Methanol–water electrolysis technology, which electrochemically produces hydrogen using methanol instead of water, has received significant attention given that the substantial amount of power required by conventional water electrolysis can be drastically reduced when using it. This study investigates the electrochemical performance and microstructural characteristics of methanol–water electrolyzers according to the ionomer-to-carbon (I/C) ratio range of 0.5–2.0 in electrode catalyst layers. The lowest voltage at the same current density is observed at an I/C ratio of 1.5 at the anode. When the I/C ratio was 2.0, the voltage was observed to be approximately 25% higher than that at an I/C ratio of 1.5. A microstructural analysis shows a decrease of the specific surface area due to catalyst agglomeration at I/C ratios higher than 1.5. The results of the BET analysis showed a decrease in the surface area with an increase in the I/C ratio. Furthermore, when the I/C ratio exceeds 1.5, separated layers of excessive amounts of ionomer are observed, possibly blocking the electron conduction pathways in the electrode catalyst layer. The energy conversion efficiency of the developed methanol–water electrolyzer was assessed in an current density range of 0.08–0.80 A cm⁻², demonstrating values between 81.4% and 92.4%.

甲醇-水电解技术利用甲醇代替水以电化学方式生产氢气，由于使用该技术可以大大减少传统水电解所需的大量电力，因此受到了极大的关注。本研究根据电极催化剂层中离聚物与碳（I/C）比率范围为0.5-2.0，研究了甲醇-水电解槽的电化学性能和微观结构特征。在阳极处 I/C 比为 1.5 时观察到相同电流密度下的最低电压。当I/C比为2.0时，观察到电压比I/C比为1.5时高约25%。微观结构分析表明，当 I/C 比高于 1.5 时，由于催化剂团聚，比表面积下降。 BET分析的结果表明，随着I/C比的增加，表面积减少。此外，当I/C比超过1.5时，观察到过量离聚物的分离层，可能阻塞电极催化剂层中的电子传导路径。所开发的甲醇-水电解槽的能量转换效率在0.08-0.80 A cm ^-2的电流密度范围内进行评估，显示值在81.4%至92.4%之间。