Synthesis and Characterization of a Composite Anion Exchange Membrane for Water Electrolyzers (AEMWE)

Anion exchange membranes (AEM) have gained attention recently as a promising candidate for low-cost water electrolysis systems to produce hydrogen, linked with renewable energy resources as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. The development of potential materials for producing and analyzing AEM is an imperative step towards commercialization and plays a competitive role in the hydrogen production industry. In this article, we developed a composite anion exchange membrane prepared by activating a commercial support structure (Celgard® 3401) with a commercially available functional group (Fumion® FAA-3) through a phase-inversion process. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis demonstrated the phase-inversion procedure as an effective methodology. Furthermore, the cell performance test result (with Celgard/Fumion) was very promising and even better in comparison with a commercial membrane commonly applied in alkaline electrolysis (Fumasep). We also developed a testing procedure for membrane performance evaluation during electrolysis which is very critical considering the effect of CO2 absorption on membrane conductivity

Lithium-doped Nickel Oxide Grown by Different PVD Methods for Hole-Selective Contact in Silicon-Based Heterojunctions

Carrier-selective contacts are well known to be one of the keys to obtain cost effective high-efficiency solar cells. In silicon-based heterojunctions the contacts are usually obtained by doped hydrogenated amorphous-silicon (a-Si:H) layers, which however introduce important absorption losses and require expensive production processes. Many candidate materials have been identified to substitute a-Si:H layers, but their full exploitation is frequently limited by the constrain of being resistant to thermal treatments up to at least 250°C. Among them, doped nickel oxide seems to be ideal to form a hole-selective contact thanks to the alignment of its valence band with that of silicon. In this work we grew films of lithium-doped nickel oxide (NiOx:Li) by different PVD techniques and tested their behavior in holeselective contacts in silicon heterojunctions. The J-V characteristics of the proof-of-concept devices demonstrate the possibility to replace p-type a-Si:H film with NiOx:Li, although further improvements are needed to optimize the performances and solve the issue related to silicon lifetime degradation