Water Electrolysis PEM Membranes for Hydrogen Production

Achieving New Levels of Hydrogen Electrolysis Efficiency and Scalability

Green hydrogen production must scale up significantly to achieve our net-zero ambitions. However, the water electrolysis (WE) market has a challenging operational landscape.

Engineers must solve the “system dilemma” of optimizing performance, safety and durability — where strengthening one vector could mean compromising on the others.

GORE^® PEM for Water Electrolysis M275.80 breaks through performance barriers by optimizing all three vectors at the same time.

Our advanced membrane achieves new levels of hydrogen electrolysis efficiency and scalability, lowering the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH).

For over three decades, we've led the market in producing proton exchange membranes (PEM) for fuel cells.

Today, our state-of-the art production facilities and enterprise capabilities are available immediately to support multi-gigawatt water electrolysis systems.

Featured Resources

Data Sheet: GORE® PEM for Water Electrolysis

White Paper: Minimizing levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) with advanced Proton Exchange Membranes (PEM) for Water Electrolysis

Video: Lowering hydrogen costs to enable a clean energy future

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Features & Benefits

Why Gore

Advantages of GORE PEM for Water Electrolysis

Water electrolysis OPEX must be reduced to achieve the LCOH necessary for large-scale WE commercialization. Our advanced material attributes tackle technology trade-offs, improving stack efficiency, reducing hydrogen plant operating expenses and mitigating risks in hydrogen production.

Increased Performance

Gore's PEM M275.80 offers ~5% greater cell voltage efficiencies over other PEM while meeting safety and durability requirements.
This reduces the amount of energy required to produce 1kg of Hydrogen.
A more efficient PEM enables a smaller & lighter stack and higher H₂ production. Small stacks are critical when space is at a premium.
Increasing voltage efficiency enables higher H2 output for the same energy consumption (or vice versa; less energy consumption for the same H₂ output).

Improved Safety

Gore's additive technology enables < 2% hydrogen in oxygen concentrations over a wide operating range — even at low ampere/current densities.
Other PEM may not meet this threshold — meaning those electrolyzers must be switched off for safety reasons.
With Gore's PEM, this is not a concern — and electrolyzers can stay running.
Wider Operation Range following load cycles results in longer uptime while staying below safety limits.

Longer System Life

Gore's reinforced PEM offers > 2 higher mechanical stability than non-reinforced membranes.
This extends WE system durability and reduces service intervals for continuous operation.
Higher mechanical durability enables long-life WE systems and reduces maintenance for longer system uptimes.

Gore: a materials science company

Our technical expertise allows us to engineer PEM to meet the individual requirements of the most demanding applications.

For PEM water electrolysis systems, we designed and developed a membrane that is both very thin and very stable — enabling effective, durable and safe hydrogen production.

Gore’s proprietary ePTFE-reinforced layer

Improving durability and performance with thin, highly conductive, mechanically durable membranes.

Unique perfluorinated ionomer

Enabling increased performance with high proton conductance + high voltage efficiency

Advanced additive technology

Providing better durability and safety with enhanced chemical durability + reduced H₂ crossover

PEM vs Other Electrolysis Technologies

Positive Attributes	Negative Attributes	Technology Readiness Level (TRL)
Low OPEX (due to higher efficiency) Most ‘flexible’ in application: Operates effectively at variable power levels (including low current density) making it suitable for intermittent, renewable energy sources. Has low gas permeability even at low current densities, allowing a wide operating range and enabling continuous hydrogen production. Smallest footprint, enabling higher overall system design flexibility (e.g., offshore applications) Highest hydrogen gas purity H₂ output already pressurized, eliminating the need for an additional compressor	Noble metal catalyst material	TRL 8-9 (proven performance in many industry applications)

Positive Attributes	Negative Attributes	Technology Readiness Level (TRL)
Low CAPEX (low-cost materials)	Slow cold start (vs. PEM) Low dynamic operation (must be shut down at low current densities Caustic, liquid electrolyte H₂ output comes at atmospheric pressure	TRL 9 (most mature, widespread + scaled)

Positive Attributes	Negative Attributes	Technology Readiness Level (TRL)
Highest electrical efficiency	Least flexible Limited deployment Limited stack life Very high temperature operation (>750 °C)	TRL 7-8 (advancing TRL and in prototype applications in the market)

Positive Attributes	Negative Attributes	Technology Readiness Level (TRL)
Very flexible + highly efficient technology with small footprint and low OPEX Low CAPEX (no noble metal catalyst materials) Lower alkalinity than ALK	Low stack life and small-scale deployment	TRL 5-7 (early-stage project development)

GORE PEM M275.80 Technical Data

Physical Characteristics
Thickness¹ [µm]	80
Tensile strength¹ in Machine Direction [MPa]	55
Tensile strength¹ in Transverse Direction [MPa]	55
Proton resistance² [mOhcm²]	57
H2 permeance³ [mA/cm²/MPa]	7

Roll Properties
Standard roll widths [mm]	320, 400, 580
Length [m]	100
Orientation	Product in roll form is shipped with the membrane anode side facing outwards

¹ Measurements taken with membrane conditioned to 23 °C, 50% relative humidity (RH).
² Proton resistance measurements taken by high frequency resistance method. Membrane impedance taken at zero imaginary impedance.
³ Hydrogen permeance measurements taken by cyclic voltammetry (CV).