Structural optimization of TiO2 supported IrO2 catalyst for proton exchange membrane water electrolysis

Hoffmeister D, Finger S, Pokhrel R, Körner A, Fritsch B, Thiele S, Hutzler A, van Pham C (2025)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2025

Journal

Chemical Engineering Journal Elsevier

Book Volume: 517

Article Number: 164281

DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2025.164281

Abstract

Reducing the iridium loading in proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) is essential, and catalysts with a low iridium content are one viable approach to reach this goal. This study investigates a series of TiO2 supported IrO2 catalysts with three different TiO2 support-particle sizes (3, 14, and 56 m2 g−1) and three different iridium oxide contents (30, 50, and 70 wt%). We demonstrate that, for optimal iridium utilization, the nominal IrO2 shell thickness should be maximized, which is readily achieved by employing low-surface area supports. Following this strategy, a TiO2@IrO2 catalyst with 50 wt% IrO2 is designed, whose single-cell performance exceeds a commercial reference catalyst (88 wt% IrO2) by 43 mV at 2 A cm−2 at a low iridium loading of 0.1 mgIr cm−2. Furthermore, we find a strong correlation between powder conductivity measurements and single-cell high frequency resistance, underlining the importance of catalyst conductivity.

Authors with CRIS profile

Birk Fritsch

Involved external institutions

Forschungszentrum Jülich / Research Centre Jülich (FZJ) DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Hoffmeister, D., Finger, S., Pokhrel, R., Körner, A., Fritsch, B., Thiele, S.,... van Pham, C. (2025). Structural optimization of TiO2 supported IrO2 catalyst for proton exchange membrane water electrolysis. Chemical Engineering Journal, 517. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2025.164281

MLA:

Hoffmeister, Darius, et al. "Structural optimization of TiO2 supported IrO2 catalyst for proton exchange membrane water electrolysis." Chemical Engineering Journal 517 (2025).

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