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Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) water electrolyzers have undergone continuous development for the generation of oxygen and hydrogen for commercial, military and space applications since the 1970's. Unfortunately, conventional technology developed over this time period has required a complex balance of plant that adds to the overall weight of the system package. Research in the past two decades resulted in the creation of systems that minimized balance of plant components, but had significant current density and efficiency limitations, limiting their use. This SBIR program builds upon recent success in the development of a high-pressure electrochemical cell architecture and inserts novel water management technology to generate a passive liquid feed electrolyzer capable of operating at 2,000 psi - and scalable to higher pressures. If successful, implementation of this new technology can save substantially on system weight with a high system operational efficiency and enhanced current density capability.
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This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.
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