Analysis of novel PBI/ZrP hybrid membrane-based CuCl-HCl electrolytic system on the performance of hydrogen production by FFD and RSM

Mohd Fadhzir Ahmad Kamaroddin; Nordin  Sabli; Tuan Amran Tuan  Abdullah; Luqman Chuah Abdullah; Shamsul  Izhar; Nurul Sahida  Hassan; Aishah Abdul  Jalil

doi:10.6180/jase.202605_29(5).0012

Analysis of novel PBI/ZrP hybrid membrane-based CuCl-HCl electrolytic system on the performance of hydrogen production by FFD and RSM

Chemical Engineering Environmental Engineering

Mohd Fadhzir Ahmad Kamaroddin^1,2,3This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Nordin Sabli^1,4This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Tuan Amran Tuan Abdullah^2,3, Luqman Chuah Abdullah¹, Shamsul Izhar¹, Nurul Sahida Hassan², and Aishah Abdul Jalil^2,3

¹Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

²Centre of Hydrogen Energy, Institute of Future Energy, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

³Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

⁴Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IONS), Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Received: April 18, 2025
Accepted: June 22, 2025
Publication Date: September 21, 2025

Copyright The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are cited.

Download Citation: ||https://doi.org/10.6180/jase.202605_29(5).0012

Currently, the Copper Chloride (CuCl) hydrogen electrolytic process is integrated into the CuCl thermochemical cycle, operating at low temperatures and relying on expensive Nafion and Nafionbased membranes. This study demonstrates significant innovation by introducing a polybenzimidazole/ zirconium phosphate (PBI/ZrP) hybrid membrane, which exhibits a four-fold increase in proton conductivity compared to pristine polybezimidazole (PBI), addressing the limitations of conventional Nafion membranes in high-temperature hydrogen production. In this research, we investigate a high-temperature CuCl hydrogen electrolytic process that utilizes a hybrid membrane as an alternative to Nafion for hydrogen production. For the optimization study, a pre-synthesized PBI/ZrP hybrid membrane was used, where its proton conductivity shows a four-fold increase compared to pristine PBI. Response surface methodology (RSM) with a central composite design (CCD) was employed. The optimized parameters -116^◦C temperature, 0.773 A cm⁻² current density, and 0.075 M CuCl concentration- yielded an optimal hydrogen production rate of 0.7167 cm³ min⁻¹. The actual hydrogen yield from these parameters reached 0.7709 cm³ min⁻¹, with only a 7.56% discrepancy from the predicted value. In conclusion, this study showcases the efficacy of the high-temperature CuCl hydrogen electrolytic process using a PBI/ZrP hybrid membrane as a superior alternative to Nafion. This process not only maximizes hydrogen output but also optimizes operating parameters, thereby reducing associated hydrogen production costs.

Keywords: CuCl hydrogen electrolytic process; Hybrid membrane; Proton conductivity; Response surface methodology (RSM); Optimization

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