Combinatorial Screening in Electrochemical Reaction Engineering

Parallel testing, also known as combinatorial screening, is a powerful method to accelerate materials research for climate-friendly technologies. This work focuses on high-pressure electrocatalysis, emphasizing automation in reaction and analytics functions. Building on prior low-pressure systems designed for parallel operation, the setup enables proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis under elevated pressure using a compressible cell to deliver the missing high-throughput screening tools as mentioned in Singh et al. Central to this is a six-piston hydraulic press with dual independent compression regimes, allowing precise control of sealing and active area compression up to 60 barg. Integrated sensors monitor compression, allow it to optimize contact resistance, and help to improve efficiency for scalable hydrogen production. PEM water electrolysis using a zero-gap design was used for demonstration of the viability of the design.