Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2025, Vol. 77: 20-44.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(25)64787-5

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Integrated design of iridium-based catalysts for proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers

Jiahao Yanga,b, Zhaoping Shia,b, Minhua Shaod,e,f, Meiling Xiaoa,b,c,*(), Changpeng Liua,b,c,*(), Wei Xinga,b,c,*()   

  1. aState Key Laboratory of Electroanalytic Chemistry, Jilin Province Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Chemistry Power, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, Jilin, China
    bSchool of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, Anhui, China
    cCIAC - HKUST Joint Laboratory for Hydrogen Energy, Changchun 130022, Jilin, China
    dDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong 999077, China
    eCIAC-HKUST Joint Laboratory for Hydrogen Energy, Energy Institute, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Watery Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong 999077, China
    fGuangzhou Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Storage Technologies, Fok Ying Tung Research Institute, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Guangzhou 511458, Guangdong, China
  • Received:2025-05-15 Accepted:2025-07-07 Online:2025-10-18 Published:2025-10-05
  • Contact: *E-mail: mlxiao@ciac.ac.cn (M. Xiao), liuchp@ciac.ac.cn (C. Liu), xingwei@ciac.ac.cn (W. Xing).
  • About author:Meiling Xiao received her PhD degree in physical chemistry from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2017. She worked at the University of Waterloo as a postdoc and joined Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry in 2021 as a full professor. She was selected for the Special Talent Program B of CAS and the Outstanding Youth Foundation of Jilin Province. She has published over 40 papers in J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Adv. Mater., etc. with over 5100 citations, H-factor 33. Her research interests include single-atom heterogeneous catalysis, fuel cells, and water electrolyzers.
    Changpeng Liu received his PhD in Physical Chemistry in 2002 and was appointed as a professor at the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry in 2012. He has successively presided over, undertaken, participated in, and completed several national and provincial-level scientific research projects. His research interests center on catalyst materials within the fuel cell and water electrolysis for hydrogen production systems, electrocatalysis and mass transfer processes, electrode interfaces, and membrane electrodes, the design and assembly of bipolar plate flow fields and fuel cell stacks, water, heat, and energy efficiency management, as well as the integration and application of system devices.
    Wei Xing received his PhD in physical chemistry at the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry (CIAC) in 1995. He worked at the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), researching the electrochemical treatment of metal surfaces. In 2001, he joined the CIAC as a professor and devoted his work to the development of advanced chemical power sources. He has received several awards, including the Jilin Province Science and Technology Award, the Science and Technology Award from the Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China. He has published over 300 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has applied for more than 50 patents. His research areas currently involve proton exchange membrane fuel cells and water electrolyzers from fundamental electro-catalytic processes to relevant stack/system assembly and testing.
  • Supported by:
    National Key R&D Program of China(2022YFB4002000);National Natural Science Foundation of China(22232004);Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDA0400301);Jilin Province Science and Technology Development Program(20240302002ZD);Jilin Province Science and Technology Development Program(20240101019JC);Jilin Province Science and Technology Development Program(20210502002ZP);Jilin Province Development and Reform Commission Program(2023C032-6)

Abstract:

Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) has garnered significant attention as a pivotal technology for converting surplus electricity into hydrogen for long-term storage, as well as for providing high-purity hydrogen for aerospace and high-end manufacturing applications. With the ongoing commercialization of PEMWE, advancing iridium-based oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts remains imperative to reconcile stringent requirements for high activity, extended longevity, and minimized noble metal loading. The review provides a systematic analysis of the integrated design of iridium-based catalysts in PEMWE, starting from the fundamentals of OER, including the operation environment of OER catalysts, catalytic performance evaluation within PEMWE, as well as catalytic and dissolution mechanisms. Subsequently, the catalyst classification and preparation/characterization techniques are summarized with the focus on the dynamic structure-property relationship. Guided by these understandings, an overview of the design strategies for performance enhancement is presented. Specifically, we construct a mathematical framework for cost-performance optimization to offer quantitative guidance for catalyst design. Finally, future perspectives are proposed, aiming to establish a theoretical framework for rational catalyst design.

Key words: Proton exchange membrane water, electrolysis, Oxygen evolution reaction, Iridium-based catalyst, Integrated design, Cost-performance optimization