Catalyst layer formulations for slot-die coating of PEM fuel cell electrodes. (5th October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sharma, Jaswinder; Lyu, Xiang; Reshetenko, Tatyana; Polizos, Georgios; Livingston, Kelsey; Li, Jianlin; Wood, David L.; Serov, Alexey
• Is Part Of: International journal of hydrogen energy. Volume 47:Number 84(2022)
• Page Start: 35838
• Page End: 35850
• Publication Date: 2022-10-05
• Subjects: Slot-die coating -- Fuel cell -- Cathode -- Oxygen reduction reaction -- Advanced manufacturing; Hydrogen as fuel -- Periodicals; Hydrogène (Combustible) -- Périodiques; Hydrogen as fuel; Periodicals; 665.81
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.08.157
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-3199

Abstract

Abstract: The series of electrodes were fabricated by the scalable and manufacturable slot-die coating method for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) application. The inks with different amounts of solids were studied by rheological methods in order to establish a coating window with minimum manufacturing defects. The obtained electrodes were characterized by SEM, AFM, and optical microscopy, which showed that they were uniform and homogeneous with minimum defects. The electrochemical evaluation of the manufactured gas diffusion electrodes (GDE) showed that the main characteristics of the electrodes, like electrochemical surface area, proton resistivity, and double layer capacitance, were found to be close for all samples confirming the reproducibility of the slot-die process. Additionally, we studied the effects of membrane thickness on the performance of the GDE membrane electrode assemblies and determined that a decrease in membrane thickness favored the performance. The obtained results clearly demonstrated the applicability and feasibility of the approach for the Manufacturing of catalyst layers for the fuel cell application with potential for future mass production. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: Pt/C inks with high solid content were formulated. Scalable Roll-2-Roll approach was used to coat 300 × 22cm electrode. The electrodes possessed minimal inhomogeneities. PEM fuel cell tests confirmed promising performance of scaled electrodes.