Ecolectro ($15 million to develop advanced anion exchange membranes for AEM electrolyzers)

Ecolectro, an American cleantech startup founded in 2015, develops advanced anion exchange membranes (AEM) and AEM electrolyzers. Ecolectro’s AEM electrolyzer stack has the potential to reduce overall costs by 78% over traditional PEM electrolyzers and drive the cost of green hydrogen down to $1.35/kg by 2030.

Challenges: hydrogen fuel

Hydrogen fuel

Hydrogen (H₂), the most abundant element in the universe, is not just a fundamental building block of stars—it's also a vital ingredient in the synthesis of ammonia. Ammonia production is at the heart of creating a plethora of products that we rely on daily, from the fertilizers that nourish our crops to the plastics that are woven into the fabric of modern life.

Traditionally, the world has leaned heavily on steam methane reforming (SMR) to produce over 60 million tons of hydrogen annually. However, this method comes with a significant environmental cost. It's an energy-intensive process that contributes approximately 2% to the global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, releasing between 5 and 9 tons of CO₂ for every ton of hydrogen it generates.

But there's a cleaner path forward: water electrolysis. This process splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using electric current and comes in various forms, including alkaline water electrolyzer (AWE), proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE), anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzers, and solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC). When these electrolyzers are powered by renewable energy sources—think nuclear, solar, and wind power—the result is "green hydrogen".

Anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzers

Anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzers utilize an anion exchange membrane, which conducts hydroxide ions (OH⁻) and separates hydrogen and oxygen gasses produced during electrolysis. This technology combines the benefits of both alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) and proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis, offering a potentially lower-cost and more efficient method for hydrogen production.

AEM electrolyzers offer several advantages over traditional electrolysis technologies:

• AEM electrolyzers are less sensitive to impurities in the water supply. They can run on pure water or slightly alkaline solutions, offering flexibility in operation.
• AEM electrolyzers can use non-noble, low-cost metal catalysts and less expensive bipolar plates because a higher pH is good for producing oxygen and lowering overpotentials. This makes the system much cheaper overall.

Despite their potential, the stability and longevity of the anion exchange membranes under operational conditions remain areas of concern.

Ecolectro Technology

Ecolectro has developed advanced anion exchange membranes made up of polymer electrolytes that are infiltrated in porous polymer supports. Ecolectro’s AEMs successfully combine the electrochemical properties of the polymer electrolytes with the structural rigidity and mechanical strength of the supports. This allows Ecolectro to fabricate favorably thin AEMs with good chemical stability, high ion exchange capacity and excellent mechanical and thermal stability, which can enable high-efficient AEM electrolyzers.

Ecolectro anion exchange membrane

The diagram below depicts the composition of Ecolectro’s AEM.