Alkaline anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolysers to produce hydrogen from water are still at an early stage of development, and their performance is far lower than that of systems based on proton exchange membranes. Here, we report an ammonium-enriched anion exchange ionomer that improves the performance of an AEM electrolyser to levels approaching that of state-of-the-art proton exchange membrane electrolysers. Using rotating-disk electrode experiments, we show that a high pH (>13) in the electrode binder is the critical factor for improving the activity of the hydrogen- and oxygen-evolution reactions in AEM electrolysers. Based on this observation, we prepared and tested several quaternized polystyrene electrode binders in an AEM electrolyser. Using the binder with the highest ionic concentration and a NiFe oxygen evolution catalyst, we demonstrated performance of 2.7 A cm⁻² at 1.8 V without a corrosive circulating alkaline solution. The limited durability of the AEM electrolyser remains a challenge to be addressed in the future.

用于从水中产生氢的碱性阴离子交换膜（AEM）电解槽仍处于发展初期，其性能远远低于基于质子交换膜的系统。在这里，我们报告了一种富铵离子交换离聚物，它将AEM电解槽的性能提高到接近最先进的质子交换膜电解槽的水平。使用转盘电极实验，我们表明电极粘合剂中的高pH（> 13）是提高AEM电解器中氢和氧逸出反应活性的关键因素。基于此观察结果，我们在AEM电解槽中制备并测试了几种季铵化聚苯乙烯电极粘合剂。使用离子浓度最高的粘合剂和NiFe放氧催化剂，^-2在1.8 V下无腐蚀性碱性循环溶液。AEM电解槽的有限耐用性仍然是未来需要解决的挑战。