Abstract
Traditionally, alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) uses diaphragms to
separate anode and cathode and is operated with 5–7 M KOH feed
solutions. The ban of asbestos diaphragms led to the development of
polymeric diaphragms, which are now the state of the art material. A
promising alternative is the ion solvating membrane. Recent developments
show that high conductivities can also be obtained in 1 M KOH. A third
technology is based on anion exchange membranes (AEM); because these
systems use 0–1 M KOH feed solutions to balance the trade-off between
conductivity and the AEM’s lifetime in alkaline environment, it makes
sense to treat them separately as AEM WE. However, the lifetime of AEM
increased strongly over the last 10 years, and some electrode-related
issues like oxidation of the ionomer binder at the anode can be
mitigated by using KOH feed solutions. Therefore, AWE and AEM WE may get
more similar in the future, and this review focuses on the developments
in polymeric diaphragms, ion solvating membranes, and AEM.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 6393–6443 |
| Number of pages | 51 |
| Journal | Chemical Reviews |
| Volume | 124 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2024 |
Subject classification (UKÄ)
- Polymer Technologies
- Materials Chemistry
- Polymer Chemistry
- Energy Engineering