Guido Bender

Guido Bender is a Researcher in the Chemical Engineering group at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) within the Chemistry and Nanoscience school. He specializes in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells and water electrolysis technologies, with over 15 years of experience in PEM fuel cell R&D and electrolysis systems.

• Education: PhD in Electrical Engineering from Technical University of Munich, Master's and Bachelor's degrees in Electrical Engineering from University of Stuttgart

His research focuses on improving PEM fuel cell and electrolysis performance through spatial in-situ diagnostics, quality control protocols for mass-produced materials, and characterization of contaminant effects. He leads efforts to reduce catalyst layer loading in PEM water electrolysis and studies degradation processes in these systems.

Recent publications highlight his work on protocol harmonization for PEM water electrolysis testing, surface modification of transport layers, and catalyst ink formulation strategies. These align with keywords like Fuel Cell Technology, Electrochemical Engineering, and Renewable Energy Systems, with subfields spanning performance benchmarking, durability testing, and processability optimization.

Bender co-leads the International Energy Agency’s Annex 30 benchmarking initiative for PEM water electrolysis and manages NREL’s fuel cell and electrolysis testing capabilities, which range from small-scale single cells to large-scale stack testing. He is a principal investigator for water electrolysis R&D projects at NREL.