A multiscale physical model of a polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzer

Abstract In this paper we report a multiscale physical and transient model describing the operation of a polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzer single cell. This model includes a detailed description of the elementary electrode kinetics, a description of the behavior of the nanoscale catalyst–electrolyte interface, and a microstructural description of the transport of chemical species and charges at the microscale along the whole membrane electrodes assembly (MEA). We present an impact study of different catalyst materials on the performance of the PEMWEs and a sensitivity study to the operation conditions, both evaluated from numerical simulations and with results discussed in comparison with available experimental data.