Sustainability of titanium employed in PEM electrolyzers technology: study of corrosion behavior and efficiency of selected inhibitors

In France today, as in other industrialized countries, hydrogen (H₂) is a particularly promising renewable energy source, an emerging sector that is driving the growing development of electrolyzers. Hydrogen production targets many strategic markets and applications, in particular heavy mobility, mass transit and freight transport, for which battery-based solutions are more difficult to implement. In this context, studying the sustainability of titanium, employed in the PEM (Proton- Exchange Membrane) electrolyzer technology to withstand the highly aggressive sulfuric medium (H₂SO₄) under severe temperature and pressure conditions, represents a real challenge. Using a methodology based on observations by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and surface analysis by Glow Discharge Optical Emission Spectrometry (GDOES), that effectively characterizes the morphology and corrosion mechanisms of titanium, and then with electrochemical analysis methods, that analyzes its behavior in sulfuric media, while verifying the reproducibility of the phenomena, this work, which focused in particular on studying the effectiveness of rigorously selected inhibitors, made it possible to define the sustainability of titanium in this context.