IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v256y2026ipds0960148125017811.html

Mechanism of hydrogen bubble behavior at different reaction stages of high-current PEMWE during pulsed dynamic electrolysis

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Xuewei
  • Zhu, Hongfei
  • Yang, Lin
  • Liu, Shuaiwei
  • Meng, Xiaoxiao
  • Huang, Yuming
  • Xie, Liang
  • Yu, Yang
  • Chen, Jiaxiang
  • Sun, Miaoting
  • Yuan, Junshu
  • Wang, Lijie
  • Gao, Jihui
  • Zhao, Guangbo
  • Zhou, Wei

Abstract

Hydrogen production from fossil fuels is not an ideal choice. Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE), due to its clean and efficient hydrogen production characteristics, shows great promise in the field of renewable energy. Although significant progress has been made, PEMWE still faces challenges under high-current conditions, such as bubble accumulation, polarization effects, and low energy efficiency. Conventional constant voltage electrolysis (CE) struggles to effectively mitigate these issues, making the exploration of novel enhancement technologies crucial. Pulsed dynamic electrolysis (PDE), by efficiently coordinating bubble release with reaction/transport processes, is expected to solve the above challenges. Driven by equilibrium voltage of 1.4 V, the hydrogen production rate of PDE (123.3 mL h−1) is significantly higher than that of the CE condition (2.5 mL h−1), showing excellent low-energy hydrogen production advantages. At high current of 2 A, PDE reduces electricity consumption by ∼4 % compared to the CE condition. The proposed new mechanism of PDE, utilizing the relaxation effect generated by periodic pulsed intermittent voltage, reduces the growth dynamics of microbubbles on the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) electrode surface, thereby promoting the bubble desorption and replenishment of reactants. This mechanism shows significant advantages during the equilibrium and onset voltage stages of PEMWE. PDE is regarded as a promising novel enhancement technology for hydrogen production via electrolysis and holds potential for broader electrocatalytic applications.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Xuewei & Zhu, Hongfei & Yang, Lin & Liu, Shuaiwei & Meng, Xiaoxiao & Huang, Yuming & Xie, Liang & Yu, Yang & Chen, Jiaxiang & Sun, Miaoting & Yuan, Junshu & Wang, Lijie & Gao, Jihui & Zhao, Gua, 2026. "Mechanism of hydrogen bubble behavior at different reaction stages of high-current PEMWE during pulsed dynamic electrolysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(PD).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:256:y:2026:i:pd:s0960148125017811
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2025.124117
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148125017811
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2025.124117?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li, Zheng & Wang, Yameng & Mu, Yongbiao & Wu, Buke & Jiang, Yuting & Zeng, Lin & Zhao, Tianshou, 2023. "Recent advances in the anode catalyst layer for proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    2. Xu, Boshi & Yang, Yang & Li, Jun & Wang, Yang & Ye, Dingding & Zhang, Liang & Zhu, Xun & Liao, Qiang, 2024. "Computational assessment of response to fluctuating load of renewable energy in proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    3. Guo, Liejin & Chen, Yubin & Su, Jinzhan & Liu, Maochang & Liu, Ya, 2019. "Obstacles of solar-powered photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production: A perspective from energy flow and mass flow," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 1079-1086.
    4. Rui Yao & Kaian Sun & Kaiyang Zhang & Yun Wu & Yujie Du & Qiang Zhao & Guang Liu & Chen Chen & Yuhan Sun & Jinping Li, 2024. "Stable hydrogen evolution reaction at high current densities via designing the Ni single atoms and Ru nanoparticles linked by carbon bridges," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    5. Gu, Xufei & Ying, Zhi & Zheng, Xiaoyuan & Dou, Binlin & Cui, Guomin, 2023. "Photovoltaic-based energy system coupled with energy storage for all-day stable PEM electrolytic hydrogen production," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 53-62.
    6. Abdin, Z. & Webb, C.J. & Gray, E.MacA., 2017. "Modelling and simulation of an alkaline electrolyser cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 316-331.
    7. Martinez Lopez, V.A. & Ziar, H. & Haverkort, J.W. & Zeman, M. & Isabella, O., 2023. "Dynamic operation of water electrolyzers: A review for applications in photovoltaic systems integration," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    8. Wang, Mingyong & Wang, Zhi & Gong, Xuzhong & Guo, Zhancheng, 2014. "The intensification technologies to water electrolysis for hydrogen production – A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 573-588.
    9. Jianxiao Wang & Liudong Chen & Zhenfei Tan & Ershun Du & Nian Liu & Jing Ma & Mingyang Sun & Canbing Li & Jie Song & Xi Lu & Chin-Woo Tan & Guannan He, 2023. "Inherent spatiotemporal uncertainty of renewable power in China," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tang, Yinglun & Su, Shangchun & Niu, Xiaoxuan & Song, Zhehui & Li, Wenjia, 2024. "A gradient porous transport layer enabling a high-performance proton-exchange membrane electrolysis cell," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(PC).
    2. Huang, Chunjun & Torres, José Luis Rueda & Zong, Yi & You, Shi & Jin, Xin, 2025. "A review of alkaline electrolyzer technology modeling and applications for decision-making optimization in energy systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    3. Wang, Kang & Yuan, Tiejiang & Teng, Yue, 2026. "Operation optimization and configuration of a novel wide-power hybrid electrolytic water-to‑hydrogen system in response to fluctuations in renewable energy sources," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 406(C).
    4. Kourougianni, Fanourios & Arsalis, Alexandros & Olympios, Andreas V. & Yiasoumas, Georgios & Konstantinou, Charalampos & Papanastasiou, Panos & Georghiou, George E., 2024. "A comprehensive review of green hydrogen energy systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    5. Yang, Qiang & Zhao, Xinjian & Ma, Zhu & Du, Zhuowei & Chen, Yi & You, Wei & Yang, Junbo & Gou, Fuchun & Mao, Maozhu & Bai, Lihong & Meng, Taoli & Song, Xiaowen & Xuan, Ningqiang & Tang, Chun & Zhou, Y, 2025. "Stable photovoltaic-wind hydrogen production with comprehensive energy management strategy and technical economic optimization," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    6. Renaudineau, Hugues & Vergara-Rosales, Nelson & Llor, Ana M. & Kouro, Samir, 2025. "Green hydrogen production from off-grid photovoltaic: An assessment on optimal sizing," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    7. Burton, N.A. & Padilla, R.V. & Rose, A. & Habibullah, H., 2021. "Increasing the efficiency of hydrogen production from solar powered water electrolysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    8. Sadeghi, Shayan & Ghandehariun, Samane, 2022. "A standalone solar thermochemical water splitting hydrogen plant with high-temperature molten salt: Thermodynamic and economic analyses and multi-objective optimization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    9. Ana L. Santos & Maria-João Cebola & Diogo M. F. Santos, 2021. "Towards the Hydrogen Economy—A Review of the Parameters That Influence the Efficiency of Alkaline Water Electrolyzers," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-35, May.
    10. Shen, Yi & Zhai, Junyi & Kang, Zhongjian & Zhao, Bei & Gao, Xianhui & Li, Zhengmao, 2025. "Distributionally robust chance-constrained energy management for island DC microgrid with offshore wind power hydrogen production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 316(C).
    11. Liu, Yiwei & Tang, Yinggan & Hua, Changchun, 2025. "Multi-objective nutcracker optimization algorithm based on fast non-dominated sorting and elite strategy for grid-connected hybrid microgrid system scheduling," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    12. Diego Bairrão & João Soares & José Almeida & John F. Franco & Zita Vale, 2023. "Green Hydrogen and Energy Transition: Current State and Prospects in Portugal," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-23, January.
    13. Yu Shen & Xiao-Long Zhang & Ming-Rong Qu & Jie Ma & Sheng Zhu & Yu-Lin Min & Min-Rui Gao & Shu-Hong Yu, 2024. "Cr dopant mediates hydroxyl spillover on RuO2 for high-efficiency proton exchange membrane electrolysis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    14. Kariuki, Boniface Wainaina & Emam, Mohamed & Ookawara, Shinichi & Hassan, Hamdy, 2024. "New hybrid system of PV/T, solar collectors, PEM electrolyzer, and HDH for hydrogen and freshwater production: Seasonal performance investigation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    15. Woong Hee Lee & Young-Jin Ko & Jung Hwan Kim & Chang Hyuck Choi & Keun Hwa Chae & Hansung Kim & Yun Jeong Hwang & Byoung Koun Min & Peter Strasser & Hyung-Suk Oh, 2021. "High crystallinity design of Ir-based catalysts drives catalytic reversibility for water electrolysis and fuel cells," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    16. Al-Ghussain, Loiy & Lu, Zifeng & Alrbai, Mohammad & Al-Dahidi, Sameer & He, Xin & Elgowainy, Amgad & Wang, Michael, 2025. "Global techno-economic and life cycle greenhouse gas emissions assessment of solar and wind based renewable hydrogen production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 401(PA).
    17. Gao, Xianhui & Wang, Sheng & Sun, Ying & Zhai, Junyi & Chen, Nan & Zhang, Xiao-Ping, 2024. "Low-carbon energy scheduling for integrated energy systems considering offshore wind power hydrogen production and dynamic hydrogen doping strategy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 376(PA).
    18. Wang, Mingkai & Pei, Pucheng & Xu, Yiming & Fan, Tengbo & Ren, Peng & Zhu, Zijing & Chen, Dongfang & Fu, Xi & Song, Xin & Wang, He, 2024. "CO-tolerance behaviors of proton exchange membrane fuel cell stacks with impure hydrogen fuel," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 366(C).
    19. Gómez, Sergio Yesid & Hotza, Dachamir, 2016. "Current developments in reversible solid oxide fuel cells," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 155-174.
    20. Jiang, Dongyue & Yang, Wenming & Tang, Aikun, 2016. "A refractory selective solar absorber for high performance thermochemical steam reforming," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 286-292.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:256:y:2026:i:pd:s0960148125017811. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.