Increased Utilization of Non-Strategic Metals for PEM Electrolyzers

Electrochemical generation of oxygen via proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis is currently the source of oxygen for life support on board the Vanguard and other classes of submarines.While highly reliable, the cell stacks for the PEM electrolyzers contain high levels of expensive platinum group metals (PGMs).The proposed project seeks to leverage a combination of improved manufacturing processes for higher catalyst utilization and advanced catalysts with low or no PGM content in order to reduce stack cost for both the Navy and commercial applications.Proton OnSite will focus on advanced catalyst deposition methods, while leveraging catalyst synthesis and characterization capabilities at Stanford University to develop new catalyst compositions.Proton will also leverage the companys depth of knowledge in electrolysis cell stack design to look at the system holistically and ensure that the advanced membrane electrode assembly (MEA) can be effectively integrated into the cell stack to realize the performance gains while still meeting all the Navy application requirements.