Our mission is to create innovation in the area of polymer electrolyte materials for electrochemical applications, notably fuel cells, electrolysis cells, and redox flow cells. We aim to prepare polymers with desired functionalities for the respective application and operating conditions, using commercially available and low-cost materials (base films, monomers and additives) and industrially viable processing techniques. Furthermore, we develop dedicated diagnostic methods to study limitations in cell performance and aging of materials and components.
Expertise
Research Team
Current group members:
- Lorenz Gubler, Head
- Torben Saatkamp, Scientist
- Ivan Zelocualtecatl Montiel, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
- Zheyu Zhang, PhD Student
- Zongyi Han, PhD Student
- Jiaxin Lu, PhD Student
- Qingxin Zhang, PhD Student
- Victor Prely, Internship Student
Open Positions
- PhD Student: Membranes for Next-Generation Water Electrolysis
Projects
Project | Description | Duration | Contact |
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AntioxAEM | Deciphering and Mitigation of Radical Induced Damage in Alkaline Anion Conducting Ionomers for Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers Swiss National Science Foundation |
2023-2027 | Lorenz Gubler |
HCmem | Hydrocarbon Fuel Cell Proton Exchange Membranes (PEMs): Chemical Durability and Testing Protocols Johnson Matthey (UK) |
2023-2027 | Lorenz Gubler |
Ambizione | A novel process for electrochemical direct-air capture of CO2 Swiss National Science Formation, Ambizione grants |
2021-2023 | Alexander Muroyama |
ELYMAT | New materials for electrolysis cells and next generation electrochemical water splitting devices (collaboration with the group Chemical Processes and Materials - CPM at PSI) Swiss Federal Office of Energy |
2021-2024 | Lorenz Gubler |
Industry | Projects funded by industrial partners, subject to confidentiality | Lorenz Gubler | |
RFBsep | Functional composite separator-membrane materials for redox flow batteries Swiss National Science Foundation |
2020-2023 | Lorenz Gubler |
NF-Antiox17 | Radical attack, antioxidants and polymer repair chemistry in hydrocarbon based fuel cell membranes Swiss National Science Foundation |
2018-2022 | Lorenz Gubler |
Recent Publications
A complete publication list can be found on Scopus.
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Aliyah K, Appel C, Lazaridis T, Prehal C, Ammann M, Xu L, et al.
Operando scanning small-/wide-angle X-ray scattering for polymer electrolyte fuel cells: investigation of catalyst layer saturation and membrane hydration- capabilities and challenges
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. 2024; 16: 25938-25952. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c11173
DORA PSI -
Barros Á, Aranzabe E, Artetxe B, Duburg JC, Gubler L, Gutiérrez-Zorrilla JM, et al.
Polyoxometalate-based symmetric redox flow batteries: performance in mild aqueous media
ACS Applied Energy Materials. 2024; 7(9): 3729-3739. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.4c00085
DORA PSI -
Duburg JC, Chen B, Holdcroft S, Schmidt TJ, Gubler L
Design of polybenzimidazolium membranes for use in vanadium redox flow batteries
Journal of Materials Chemistry A. 2024; 12(11): 6387-6398. https://doi.org/10.1039/d3ta07212f
DORA PSI -
Duburg JC, Avaro J, Krupnik L, Silva BFB, Neels A, Schmidt TJ, et al.
Design principles for high-performance meta-polybenzimidazole membranes for vanadium redox flow batteries
Energy and Environmental Materials. 2024: e12793 (12 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1002/eem2.12793
DORA PSI -
Hampson E, Duburg JC, Casella J, Schmidt TJ, Gubler L
A simple approach to balancing conductivity and capacity fade in vanadium redox flow batteries by the tunable pretreatment of polybenzimidazole membranes
Chemical Engineering Journal. 2024; 485: 149930 (11 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2024.149930
DORA PSI -
Muroyama AP, Abu-Arja D, Rogerio BK, Masiello D, Winzely M, Gubler L
Performance enhancement of a membrane electrochemical cell for CO2 capture
Journal of the Electrochemical Society. 2024; 171(1): 013504 (7 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/ad1acf
DORA PSI -
Schuler T, Weber CC, Wrubel JA, Gubler L, Pivovar B, Büchi FN, et al.
Ultrathin microporous transport layers: implications for low catalyst loadings, thin membranes, and high current density operation for proton exchange membrane electrolysis
Advanced Energy Materials. 2024; 14(7): 2302786 (12 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202302786
DORA PSI -
Weber CC, De Angelis S, Meinert R, Appel C, Holler M, Guizar-Sicairos M, et al.
Microporous transport layers facilitating low iridium loadings in polymer electrolyte water electrolysis
EES Catalysis. 2024; 2(2): 585-602. https://doi.org/10.1039/d3ey00279a
DORA PSI -
Zhang Z, Baudy A, Testino A, Gubler L
Cathode catalyst layer design in PEM water electrolysis toward reduced Pt loading and hydrogen crossover
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. 2024; 16(18): 23265-23277. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.4c01827
DORA PSI -
Aliyah K, Prehal C, Diercks JS, Diklić N, Xu L, Ünsal S, et al.
Quantification of PEFC catalyst layer saturation via in silico, ex situ, and in situ small-angle X-ray scattering
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. 2023; 15(22): 26538-26553. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c00420
DORA PSI -
Carreon Ruiz ER, Lee J, Strobl M, Stalder N, Burca G, Gubler L, et al.
Revealing the impact of temperature in battery electrolytes via wavelength-resolved neutron imaging
Science Advances. 2023; 9(39): eadi0586 (12 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adi0586
DORA PSI -
Carreón Ruiz ER, Stalder N, Lee J, Gubler L, Boillat P
Prospects of spectroscopic neutron imaging: optimizing experimental setups in battery electrolyte research
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. 2023; 25(36): 24993-25007. https://doi.org/10.1039/d3cp03434h
DORA PSI -
Carreón Ruiz ER, Lee J, Márquez Damián JI, Strobl M, Burca G, Woracek R, et al.
Spectroscopic neutron imaging for resolving hydrogen dynamics changes in battery electrolytes
Materials Today Advances. 2023; 19: 100405 (6 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtadv.2023.100405
DORA PSI -
Soon WL, Peydayesh M, de Wild T, Donat F, Saran R, Müller CR, et al.
Renewable energy from livestock waste valorization: amyloid-based feather keratin fuel cells
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. 2023; 15(40): 47049-47057. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c10218
DORA PSI -
Weber CC, Wrubel JA, Gubler L, Bender G, De Angelis S, Büchi FN
How the porous transport layer interface affects catalyst utilization and performance in polymer electrolyte water electrolysis
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. 2023; 15(29): 34750-34763. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c04151
DORA PSI -
Yazili D, Marini E, Saatkamp T, Münchinger A, de Wild T, Gubler L, et al.
Sulfonated poly(phenylene sulfone) blend membranes finding their way into proton exchange membrane fuel cells
Journal of Power Sources. 2023; 563: 232791 (10 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2023.232791
DORA PSI -
de Wild T, Wurm J, Becker P, Günther D, Nauser T, Schmidt TJ, et al.
A nature-inspired antioxidant strategy based on porphyrin for aromatic hydrocarbon containing fuel cell membranes**
ChemSusChem. 2023; 16(21): e202300775 (13 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202300775
DORA PSI -
de Wild T, Nemeth T, Becker P, Günther D, Nauser T, Schmidt TJ, et al.
Repair of aromatic hydrocarbon-based membranes tested under accelerated fuel cell conditions
Journal of Power Sources. 2023; 560: 232525 (13 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2022.232525
DORA PSI -
Gubler L
Wire-free electrochemical CO2 scrubbing
Nature Energy. 2022; 7: 216-217. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-00983-1
DORA PSI -
Muroyama AP, Gubler L
Carbonate regeneration using a membrane electrochemical cell for efficient CO2 capture
ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering. 2022; 10(49): 16113-16117. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c04175
DORA PSI -
Nemeth T, Agrachev M, Jeschke G, Gubler L, Nauser T
EPR study on the oxidative degradation of phenyl sulfonates, constituents of aromatic hydrocarbon-based proton-exchange fuel cell membranes
Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 2022; 126(37): 15606-15616. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.2c04566
DORA PSI -
Nemeth T, de Wild T, Gubler L, Nauser T
Impact of substitution on reactions and stability of one-electron oxidised phenyl sulfonates in aqueous solution
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. 2022; 24(2): 895-901. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1cp04518k
DORA PSI -
Nemeth T, De Wild T, Gubler L, Nauser T
Moderation of oxidative damage on aromatic hydrocarbon-based polymers
Journal of the Electrochemical Society. 2022; 169(5): 054529 (8 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/ac6f85
DORA PSI -
Nemeth T, Nauser T, Gubler L
On the radical-induced degradation of quaternary ammonium cations for anion-exchange membrane fuel cells and electrolyzers
ChemSusChem. 2022; 15(22): e202201571 (9 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202201571
DORA PSI -
Weber CC, Schuler T, De Bruycker R, Gubler L, Büchi FN, De Angelis S
On the role of porous transport layer thickness in polymer electrolyte water electrolysis
Journal of Power Sources Advances. 2022; 15: 100095 (6 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.powera.2022.100095
DORA PSI -
Zhang Z, Han Z, Testino A, Gubler L
Platinum and cerium-zirconium oxide co-doped membrane for mitigated H2 crossover and ionomer degradation in PEWE
Journal of the Electrochemical Society. 2022; 169(10): 104501 (6 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/ac94a3
DORA PSI -
de Wild T, Nemeth T, Nauser T, Schmidt TJ, Gubler L
Chemical stability enhancement of aromatic proton exchange membranes using a damage repair mechanism
In: Polymer electrolyte fuel cells & electrolyzers 22 (PEFC&E 22). Vol. 109. ECS transactions. Bristol: IOP Publishing; 2022:317-325. https://doi.org/10.1149/10909.0317ecst
DORA PSI