Alkaline inorganic-membrane-electrolyte (IME) water electrolysis

An R & D programme based on the development and parametric testing of water electrolysis cells for hydrogen production has been directed towards the development of electrolytic systems based on the use of inorganic ion exchange membranes. Attention was focused on the use of polyantimonic acid-teflon bound membranes which can be produced in thin sheets of 250 μm thickness. By attaching on both sides of the membrane catalytically active electrodes an electrolysis unit cell is obtained. At 10 kAm^-2 and 85 C, cell voltages of 1.8 V have been measured in a reproducible way using these heterogeneous inorganic ion exchange membranes. A technological demonstration set-up has been initiated involving the construction of a 1 kW filter press type electrolyzer.