THE OVERALL PROJECT GOAL IS TO ADVANCE GORE’S ULTRA-THIN DIAPHRAGMS FROM TECHNOLOGY READINESS LEVEL (TRL) 3 TO TRL 5 IN SERVICE OF TWO PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: 1) TO MEET OR EXCEED DOE’S NEXT-GENERATION LIQUID ALKALINE WATER ELECTROLYZER (LAWE) PERFORMANCE TARGETS (2 A/CM2 AT = 1.7 V WITH = 2.1 MV/KH DEGRADATION) BY OPTIMIZING ULTRA-THIN DIAPHRAGMS AND PAIRING THEM WITH STATE-OF-THE-ART ELECTRODES, AND 2) TO DE-RISK THE ULTRA-THIN DIAPHRAGMS FOR SCALE-UP AT GORE TO ESTABLISH A DOMESTIC SUPPLY CHAIN OF ADVANCED LAWE SEPARATORS. EXPECTED OUTCOMES ARE: • PILOT-SCALE ROLLS OF ULTRA-THIN DIAPHRAGMS WITH OPTIMIZED STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION, • DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF DIAPHRAGM PROPERTY-STRUCTURE-PROPERTY-PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIPS, • DATA FROM SINGLE CELLS AND A SMALL STACK DEMONSTRATING THAT DOE TARGETS HAVE BEEN MET, • A TECHNOECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF NEW DIAPHRAGMS ON LAWE STACK CAPITAL AND OPERATING COSTS, • COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG INDUSTRY LEADERS TO COMMERCIALIZE NEW LAWE TECHNOLOGY, AND • A MORE DIVERSE AND WELL-TRAINED WORKFORCE, MORE CAPABLE FACILITIES, AND MORE INVOLVED COMMUNITY