Investigation on the performance of reversible polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell during the electrolysis phase

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab, India
² Mechanical Engineering Department, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, Punjab, India

^* Corresponding author: k.dinesh.pbi@gmail.com

Published online: 7 January 2026

Abstract

Due to its sustainable and zero-carbon potential, electrolysis of water is considered a suitable alternative for the production of green hydrogen. The electrolysis accounts for 2 to 5% of hydrogen production worldwide. The primary objective of this study is to simulate the performance of the RPEMFCs in producing green hydrogen. The investigation was more specifically carried out on the reversible polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (RPEMFC) unit with Nafion-115 membrane with different anode and cathode catalyst loadings at the current density of 1 A/cm2. This study acknowledges the significance of the ramp-up phase in the investigation of the steady state electrolysis process at fixed current density. Also, it is observed that cell voltage tends to increase with an increase in current density from 0.1A/cm2 to 1A/cm2. The operating voltage was reported as 1.89 V at the current density of 1A/cm2. Furthermore, the voltage efficiency of the reversible polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (RPEMFC) electrolysis was 65% under the given conditions.