Technology Development
SCALE-AEM develops key technologies across the AEM electrolyser value chain—from materials to manufacturing and system performance.
Materials & Components
Core materials and components define the performance, cost, and durability of AEM electrolysers.
Membrane Improvement and Manufacturing Scale-Up
» Scalable manufacturing of large-area membranes
» Precise control of membrane composition (IEC, functional groups, additives)
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Hydrolite develops a proprietary melt-processing technology for producing PFAS-free AEMs using widely available hydrocarbon materials. The membranes demonstrate high ionic conductivity and strong chemical stability over extended operation. To further enhance durability, reinforcement strategies such as polymer meshes and crosslinking are implemented, reducing swelling and mechanical degradation.
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PFAS-free, solvent-free membrane technology
Scalable and industrially compatible production
Enhanced durability and stability
Cost-efficient manufacturing
Improved recyclability and reduced environmental impact
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Hydrolite’s membranes improve system lifetime and reliability, contributing to lower CAPEX and LCOH.
The scalable production approach supports consistent, high-quality supply, targeting 1 GW/year capacity by 2030, and strengthens the sustainability and commercial readiness of AEM electrolysis.
Advanced PGM-free Catalysts and Electrodes
» Fine-tuning catalyst layers
» Enhancing membrane–electrode interfaces
» Integrating porous transport layers
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Within SCALE-AEM, Matteco leverages its proprietary PGM-free material platform to develop high-performance anodes and cathodes for AEM electrolysis, including the optimisation of NiFe LDH anodes and advanced PGM-free cathodes.
The work extends beyond materials, focusing on electrode architecture optimisation at stack level. This includes:
Fine-tuning catalyst layers
Enhancing membrane–electrode interfaces
Integrating porous transport layers
These improvements enable efficient charge transfer, enhanced mass transport, and long-term durability under realistic operating conditions, such as low electrolyte concentration, compression, and dynamic operation.
In parallel, Matteco adopts a design-for-manufacturing approach, enabling automated, high-throughput production. The technology is progressing from TRL 4 to TRL 6, including validation of large-area electrodes (up to 1 m diameter) for industrial-scale stacks (10–100 kW).
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Fully PGM- and CRM-free design, reducing costs and supply risks
Optimised electrode architectures tailored to real stack conditions
Scalable, near-zero-waste manufacturing (<5% waste)
High-performance targets (1.5 A/cm², 48 kWh/kg H₂)
Circularity-driven approach, enabling reuse of materials
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Matteco’s technology contributes directly to reducing stack CAPEX towards €150/kW. By combining high efficiency with PGM-free materials, it enables up to 20% reduction in LCOH, accelerating the competitiveness of green hydrogen.
Manufacturing & Automation
Cutting and Welding of Bipolar Plates
» Laser cutting optimisation
» Welding process refinement
» Dedicated clamping and positioning systems
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Fraunhofer IWU advances beam-based cutting and welding technologies to enable high-quality, scalable production of BPPs.
A strong focus is placed on process chain integration, reducing scrap and enabling efficient large-scale manufacturing.
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High-precision cutting with improved edge quality
Optimised welding processes ensuring reliability and tightness
Integrated production chain for industrial scalability
Reduced costs and improved manufacturing efficiency
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These developments enable the cost-effective and reliable production of high-quality bipolar plates, supporting the industrialisation and scalability of AEM electrolysis systems.
Advanced Stack Design, Bipolar Plate Integration and Sealing
» Optimised fluid distribution
» Enhanced thermal management
» Robust sealing solutions
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Antares Electrolysis develops a next-generation stack architecture optimised for performance, manufacturability, and scalability.
The approach is based on the co-design of key components, including:
Bipolar plates (BPPs)
Sealing systems
Flow fields
Compression strategies
The design follows design-for-manufacturing principles, enabling compatibility with automated production lines.
The stack also integrates PCB-based bipolar plates and enables easier assembly, monitoring, and disassembly, supporting circularity.
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Stack architecture for automated, high-volume production
Advanced sealing concepts for harsh environments
Integrated stack engineering
Improved durability and mechanical stability
Enhanced thermal and fluid management
Modular and scalable design (10–100 kW+)
Circularity-ready approach
Contribution to <150 €/kW stack cost target
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Antares’ solutions enable scalable and cost-effective manufacturing, contributing to reduced CAPEX, longer system lifetime, and accelerated market uptake of AEM electrolysis.
Automatic MEA and stack assembly
» Assembly process advantages
» Process robustness improvements
» Optional vision system benefits
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The SCALE AEM solution is based on a central robot dedicated to the handling of lightweight components such as frames, mesh/foam, and bipolar plates. Around the robot, referenced feeder carts are positioned to supply parts in a structured and repeatable way, ensuring a simple and robust picking logic. The robot is equipped with custom-designed grippers tailored to each component type, providing stable handling without the need for vision systems during the picking phase.
On one side of the cell, a referenced assembly fixture is installed to guide accurate part placement and ensure compliance with the required tolerances during assembly operations. The architecture is modular and allows the optional integration of a vision system for quality control and defect detection on components before or during assembly, improving overall process reliability and robustness.
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The SCALE AEM solution is innovative because it introduces a fully structured and deterministic assembly architecture, reducing reliance on complex perception systems and adaptive logic typical of current solutions.
Key architectural features:
The central robot operates within an organized cell with referenced carts for component feeding;
Picking operations are:
Simple
Repeatable
Stable
No vision system is required for picking.
Assembly process advantages:
More precise and consistent than manual assembly by an experienced operator
Use of a physical jig that:
Guides component positioning
Ensures compliance with geometric tolerances
Process robustness improvements:
Reduction of uncontrolled variables
Standardization of operations
Optional vision system benefits:
Identification of defects in components
Prevention of issues affecting the final product stack
Improvement of:
Overall quality
Process stability
Main advantages:
Greater system efficiency
Reduced complexity
Lower integration costs
Improved operational reliability
Enhanced final quality through targeted control of critical components
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Automated MEA and stack assembly is a central innovation of the SCALE-AEM project. This specific technology contributes:
· To develop automated, flexible MEA and stack assembly platform
· To the transition from manual to scalable, high-throughput manufacturing
· To improve quality, reduce costs, and increase production efficiency
· To define KPIs for precision, cycle time, and rejection rate
· To design, simulate, and validate automated production line
· To enable standardization, traceability, and sustainability
Scaling AEM electrolysis requires a shift from manual processes to automated, high-throughput manufacturing.
Process Monitoring & Optimisation
Design for Sustainability
» ≥15% reduction in disassembly time
» ≥20% reduction in disassembly costs
» ≥50% reduction in material losses
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Within SCALE AEM, FRAUNHOFER develops a design-for-sustainability framework focused on stack-level circularity. First, a process chain and material flow analyses for key components (e.g., BPP, electrodes, membranes) is conducted, covering manufacturing, disassembly, recycling and existing eco-design guidelines for hydrogen systems. This information is combined to reveal environmental hotspots and to create an actionable roadmap for circularity. Building on this and additional disassembly trials, CAD-based design alternatives are created and evaluated based on consequential LCA and selected disassembly KPIs (e.g., time, cost). Promising design recommendations are prototyped and validated through manual and automated disassembly trials and a verification protocol for ongoing design evaluation.
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Systematic, data-driven approach for early-stage design guidance for sustainability linking manufacturing and End-of-Life
Actionable heatmap and process-flow visualization guiding improvements across entire stack manufacturing
KPI-driven disassembly optimisation targeting ≥15% reduction in disassembly time, ≥20% reduction in disassembly costs and ≥50% reduction in material losses
Practical validation of design recommendations through manual and automated disassembly trials with dedicated metrics to ensure industrial feasibility
Alignment with regulatory frameworks (e.g., CRMs, circular economy guidelines) to ensure a future-proof stack design
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Design-for-Sustainability directly advances SCALE AEM by examining circular design for critical components, improving disassembly efficiency and material recoverability. It supports stack manufacturers and their suppliers to cut lifecycle impacts, CRM dependence, and costs, directly supporting scaling AEM electrolysers with competitive total cost of ownership and end-of-life strategies in line with EU regulations.
Process Monitoring
» Early detection of process anomalies
» Data fusion of sensor data
» Cost reduction via process optimisation
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SCALE-AEM will develop a process monitoring system that delivers not only extensive knowledge on the production processes in the form of production data and AI-based analysis results, but also the possibility of online process optimisation, for example, via early detection of anomalies and direct adjustment of process parameters. SCALE-AEM will provide:
· Early detection of process anomalies and quality defects directly during the production process to reduce scrap rates and waste of resources.
· Data fusion of sensor data from production process with data from quality inspection and testing of stacks and components
· Cost reduction via process optimisation based on an overarching database of the entire process chain.
The adaptive anomaly detection based on inline data from the production combined with the possibility for process optimisation is a ground-breaking result compared to the current state-of-the-art in electrolyser production.
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· Reduction of production costs due to early detection of process anomalies and quality defects
· Increasing efficiency of production via AI-model based process optimization based on the collected data from process monitoring
· Improvement of stack performance by data analysis from separate stack components and final quality tests
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The scale-up of electrolysers production as well as performance and lifetime is improved by process monitoring through automated collection of these machine and process data and AI-based data analysis and optimization.
Stack Testing and Technology validation
» Flexible and scalable testing platform
» Transition to 100 kW systems
» Development of standardized methodologies
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Within the SCALE AEM project, V2H will develop a flexible testing platform dedicated to the validation of industrial AEM stacks. The platform will initially be implemented for the testing of 10 kW stacks (beta and optimized versions). Subsequently, V2H will develop a dedicated system for testing 100 kW stacks, enabling advanced testing campaigns focused on operational performance and durability under realistic conditions. The testing activities will also support the optimization of stack design and related components, contributing to accelerating their path toward industrialization.
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Development of a flexible and scalable testing platform for industrial AEM stacks;
Capability to test stacks with different technical specifications and operating configurations;
Transition from 10 kW stack testing to platforms dedicated to 100 kW systems;
Development of standardized methodologies for performance and durability assessment;
Validation under realistic operating conditions;
Support for stack design optimization and technology industrialization.
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V2H’s testing activities enable the validation and improvement of AEM stack performance, reducing technological risks and accelerating the transition from research to industrial production. This directly contributes to the SCALE AEM project’s goals of increasing efficiency, reliability, and scalability of the technology.