Porous Titanium Porous Transport Layers (PTL/GDL/PTL) for PEM Electrolyzers

Porous titanium electrode plates

TiTime Porous Titanium Porous Transport Layers (PTL/GDL/PTL) for PEM Electrolyzers

TiTime is the world’s leading supplier of ultra-thin sintered porous titanium PTL (Porous Transport Layers) for PEM water electrolyzers. Our sintered titanium anode diffusion layers have been deployed in mass production since 2018 and are currently deployed in over 600 MW of PEM electrolyzer capacity worldwide (as of November 19, 2025), serving Tier-1 clients including Longi Hydrogen, Sungrow, Cummins Accelera, and multiple European and North American OEMs.

Critical Role of Anode-Side PTL in PEM Electrolyzers

In PEM water electrolyzers, the anode-side porous transport layer (PTL) is the most demanding component after the membrane electrode assembly (MEA). It must simultaneously satisfy five extreme conditions that are incompatible with carbon paper/carbon cloth GDLs used in fuel cells:

Titanium Porous Transport Layers

Titanium bipolar plate

High potential oxidative environment (>1.8 V) in acidic conditions
High-pressure oxygen evolution and rapid bubble release requirements
Ultra-low contact resistance with the catalyst layer
Mechanical support for ultra-thin membranes (<10 μm)
Long-term stability (>50,000 hours)

Carbon materials are rapidly oxidized to CO₂ in such environments within hours. TiTime’s ultra-thin sintered porous titanium PTL perfectly addresses these challenges with excellent corrosion resistance, superior mechanical properties, and optimized pore structure.

TiTime Porous Titanium PTL Core Advantages (2025 Commercial Generation)

Parameter	TiTime Ultra-Thin Sintered Titanium PTL	Typical Sintered Titanium Felt	Carbon Paper GDL (Fuel Cell Type)
Thickness range	30–300 μm (0.03–0.3 mm)	0.3–1.0 mm typically	200–400 μm
Average pore size	5–15 μm (controllable 3–30 μm)	20–50 μm typically	30–80 μm
Porosity	40–50%	60–70% typically	70–80% typically

TiTime's ultra-thin sintered porous titanium PTL stands out with:

Ultra-thin design (down to 30 μm), enabling the use of ultra-thin membranes (<10 μm), achieving <1.75 V at 4 A/cm²
Mirror-smooth surface (Ra <1 μm available), minimizing damage to ultra-thin membranes and reducing catalyst loss
Uniform pore distribution, significantly reducing bubble retention and pressure drop, supporting ultra-high current density operation (>5 A/cm²)
Optional platinum or platinum/iridium composite coating (50–200 nm), ensuring long-term stability (>60,000 hours) without passivation in high-potential environments
Extremely high mechanical strength (>50 MPa tensile, <3% deformation at 80 MPa compression), perfectly compatible with zero-gap stack designs

TiTime Manufacturing Excellence (2025)

TiTime’s proprietary ultra-thin sintered porous titanium PTL is produced using aerospace-grade Ti powder, high-precision rolling + multi-stage vacuum sintering + plasma-activated surface treatment + pulsed electrodeposition of noble metal coatings.