BACKGROUND In this work, the influence of the anodic catalyst carbonaceous support and the membrane on the electrochemical reforming of ethanol for hydrogen production in alkaline media has been studied. Physicochemical characterization and electrochemical activity measurements were performed for different palladium-based anodic catalysts. The best anodic catalyst was scaled up to two different membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) based on anion exchange membranes (AEMs): Tokuyama and KOH-doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes. In both systems, the influence of the temperature and the stability were evaluated for the electrochemical reforming of ethanol. RESULTS Among the different investigated catalysts, palladium supported on non-functionalized low-surface nanofibers was the best anodic catalyst for the electrochemical reforming of ethanol in alkaline media, which was attributed to the specific physicochemical and textural properties of this material. In addition, the use of a Tokuyama membrane allowed to obtain the highest electrocatalytic activity in hydrogen production together with a suitable stability behavior. Under the optimized conditions, current density values up to 120 mA cm(-2) at 1.4 V were obtained, leading to lower energy values for hydrogen production compared with those of water electrolysis in commercial alkaline electrolyzers. CONCLUSION The choice of palladium supported on non-functionalized nanofibers as anodic catalyst and a Tokuyama membrane allows to obtain the best MEA configuration for the electrochemical reforming of ethanol for hydrogen production. (c) 2019 Society of Chemical Industry