Producing pure, compressed hydrogen from gas mixtures is a crucial, but expensive, aspect of hydrogen distribution. Electrochemical hydrogen pumps offer a promising energy-efficient solution, but struggle with gas mixtures containing less than 20% hydrogen. Here we show that electrochemical hydrogen pumps equipped with phosphate-coordinated quaternary ammonium ion-pair polymer membranes can overcome this challenge. By using a protonated phosphonic acid ionomer and selective cathode humidification, mass transport of the device is enhanced, boosting hydrogen production from low-concentration hydrogen gas mixtures. A tandem ion-pair electrochemical hydrogen pump system achieves high-purity hydrogen (>99.999%) from a 10% hydrogen–methane mixture with nearly 100% faradaic efficiency and hydrogen recovery. A techno-economic analysis reveals that electrochemical hydrogen pumps can reduce hydrogen delivery costs by up to 95% and energy consumption by up to 65% by allowing the use of existing natural gas pipelines, compared to traditional pressure swing adsorption and mechanical compression techniques.

从气体混合物中生产纯净的压缩氢气是氢气分配的一个重要方面，但成本很高。电化学氢气泵提供了一种很有前途的节能解决方案，但难以处理氢气含量低于 20% 的气体混合物。在这里，我们展示了配备磷酸盐配位季铵离子对聚合物膜的电化学氢气泵可以克服这一挑战。通过使用质子化膦酸离聚物和选择性阴极加湿，增强了该设备的质量传输，促进了低浓度氢气混合物的制氢。串联离子对电化学氢气泵系统从 10% 的氢气-甲烷混合物中实现高纯度氢气 （>99.999%），具有近 100% 的法拉第效率和氢气回收率。一项技术经济分析表明，与传统的变压吸附和机械压缩技术相比，电化学氢气泵允许使用现有的天然气管道，可以将氢气输送成本降低多达 95%，能耗降低多达 65%。