THIS PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON ACHIEVING THE DOE ELECTROLYZER PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE (PEM) PERFORMANCE TARGET OF 3.0 A/ CM2 AT 1.8V BY OPTIMIZING OUR NON-PERFLUOROSULFONIC ACID (NON-PFSA) IONOMER MOLECULAR ARCHITECTURE AND MEMBRANE DESIGN TO ACHIEVE SAFE, LOW-COSTPRODUCTION OF HYDROGEN IN COMPONENT OPTIMIZED COMMERCIAL ELECTROLYZER CELLS OPERATING AT 30 BAR PRESSURE WITH A PERFORMANCE LOSS OF <2.3 MV OVER 1000 HRS. THIS WORK WILL BUILD ESSENTIAL FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE EFFECTS OF MORPHOLOGY ON PERFORMANCE AND DURABILITY AND THE INTERFACE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN CURRENT STATE OF THE ART ELECTROLYZER MEMBRANE ELECTRODE ASSEMBLY (MEA) AND CELL COMPONENTS WITH NON-PFSA BASED MEMBRANES. PROCESS DEVELOPMENT WILL ENSURE SCALABLE IONOMER SYNTHESIS AND MEMBRANE PRODUCTION PROCEDURES ARE IN PLACE TO ENABLE COMMERCIALIZATION.