Fig. 1: Properties of BPMs.
From: Design principles for water dissociation catalysts in high-performance bipolar membranes
a Schematic of a BPM electrolyzer. Pure water is fed through the anode and cathode gas-diffusion layers (GDLs) and diffuses into the AEL|CEL junction where water is dissociated with the aid of WD catalysts. b Steady-state numerical simulation results of a BPM at equilibrium (green), in forward bias 0.2 V (orange), and in reverse bias 0.2 V (blue). From top to bottom are the profiles of relative electrochemical potential \({\bar{\mu }}_{{{{{{\rm{relative}}}}}}}\), molar concentration \(c\), electric potential \(\phi\), electric field \(-{{{{{\rm{d}}}}}}\phi /{{{{{\rm{d}}}}}}x\), and magnitude of the net reaction rate \(\left|R\right|\) (sum of dissociation and recombination). At equilibrium, the electrochemical potentials of each mobile species are the same across the whole BPM. c Simulated polarization curve of a BPM in forward bias and reverse bias. See Methods for more information.
