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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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77 records · Page 5
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DOE OSTI2026

Tantalum oxide stabilized molybdenum-doped ruthenium oxide electrocatalysts for PEM water electrolysis

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis offers key advantages, including high current density, high efficiency, and compact system architecture for hydrogen production. However, its widespread implementation is limited by the scarcity and high cost of Ir-based anodic catalysts. Herein, we report an Ir-free electrocatalyst for the acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER): tantalum oxide (TaO x )–coated molybdenum-doped RuO 2 (TaO x -MoRuO 2 ). The catalyst exhibits a low overpotential of 180 mV at 10 mA cm -2 and excellent durability, with a degradation rate of 0.034 mV h -1 over a 150-hour test at 50 mA cm -2 —surpassing other Ru-based catalysts evaluated under similar conditions. A PEM electrolyzer employing TaO x -MoRuO 2 as the anode maintained stable operation for 100 hours at 500 mA cm -2 . In conclusion, the TaO x coating layer suppresses Ru and Mo dissolution, thus enhancing their stability likely via interfacial electronic reconfiguration of Ru and Mo mediated by bridging oxygen atoms.

Durability↗
DOE OSTI2026

The Impact of Catalyst Layer Properties and Transport Layer Interactions on Rutile Iridium Oxide Anode Durability in Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolysis

The performance and durability of proton exchange membrane electrolyzers are governed by the interplay between catalyst inks and integration, the resulting catalyst layer (CL) structure, and the interface between the CL and porous transport layer (PTL). In this study, we examine the impact of these factors on cell performance and degradation using rutile IrO2 as the anode catalyst. The two commercial rutile IrO2 catalysts differ from each other and from the amorphous benchmark in agglomerate size and ink stability. This has implications for CL morphology and electronic connectivity. In the context of long-term pressurized operation for up to 1000 h, the selection of the PTL has a marginal effect on the durability of CLs with good structural and compositional properties, whereas poorly structured CLs demonstrate evident degradation when used with certain PTLs. Poor CL properties amplify the negative impact of non-ideal CL/PTL interfaces, demonstrating the importance of CL/PTL interface engineering.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

AST Development for PEM Electrolyzers [Slides]

The ASTWG charter targets include: Develop ASTs to predict 80,000 hours of life in desired application; and Develop additional ASTs to evaluate different PEM electrolyzer components.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2026

Towards a Unified Low-Cost Flow Plate, Flow-Field, PTL Solution for Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyzers

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis is a highly efficient method for hydrogen production. Research cells typically consist of one proton exchange membrane, two catalyst layers, two porous transport layers, two flow-field plates, and two endplates. In commercial systems, the machined flow-field plates that are employed in research cells are typically replaced by stamped parts or open mesh material solutions to reduce manufacturing cost at scale. Nonetheless, the cell contains about 8 total interfaces: bipolar plate / flow plate material / porous transport medium / electrode / membrane / electrode / porous transport medium / flow plate material / bipolar plate. All these materials and interfaces need to be optimized for maximum performance and efficiency. Reducing the amount of interfaces by combining individual cell components directly benefits the fabrication cost (by reducing the parts count and the needs for surface coatings) and the electrochemical performance (by reducing ohmic losses). We have designed a novel PEM electrolysis cell with a piece of channeled titanium felt functioning as both the anode flow-field and the PTL, referred to as the channeled diffusion layer (CDL). The pores of the felt facilitate both in-plane and through-plane diffusion, ensuring maximum catalyst utilization while also minimizing mass transport loss. The titanium felt can be mass manufactured with existing stamping and forming methods and is therefore a promising candidate to reduce the capital cost of PEM electrolyzers whilst improving hydrogen production efficiency. Experiments conducted with 3mg IrOx/cm2 loading MEAs have shown a approximately 40% boost in peak current by implementing the CDL design. Low catalyst-loading MEAs are being tested in ongoing experiments and their results will be discussed and compared.

08 HYDROGEN↗