Analysis of Low Platinum Loading Thin Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Electrodes Prepared by Inkjet Printing

Shukla, Shantanu; Domican, Kailyn; Karan, Kunal; Bhattacharjee, Subir; Secanell, Marc

doi:10.1016/j.electacta.2015.01.028

Cited by 115 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…[45,46] Furthermore, inkjet printing has been employed in LEPA to create CLs and MEAs for PEMFCs. Similar to the works reported by the groups of Taylor, [37] Towne, [38] Karan [39] and Secanell [40] stable ink formulations of Pt/C inks with Nafion (Fig. 3a) were generated based on DI water and isopropanol, avoiding the addition of solvents with high boiling temperatures.…”

Section: Inkjet Printing Of Electrocatalystssupporting

confidence: 65%

“…[39] Recently, Shukla et al followed this strategy to obtain 0.026 mg Pt cm -2 CLs and analyze the influence of a varying Nafion content in the ink to determine the limiting effects of the MEA performance. [40] It was found that between 20-40 wt% Nafion content the macro-scale transport of oxygen and protons is not limiting the function of the inkjet printed MEA. Furthermore, the authors reported an increase of the Pt utilization from 12.4 to 47.6 kW g -1 Pt by increasing the operating oxygen gauge pressure from ambient conditions to 2 bar.…”

Section: Inkjet Printing Of Electrocatalystsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Inkjet Printing Meets Electrochemical Energy Conversion

Lesch

Cortés‐Salazar

Bassetto

et al. 2015

Chimia

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Inkjet printing is a very powerful digital and mask-less microfabrication technique that has attracted the attention of several research groups working on electrochemical energy conversion concepts. In this short review, an overview is given about recent efforts to employ inkjet printing for the search of new electrocatalyst materials and for the preparation of catalyst layers for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell applications. Recent approaches of the Laboratory of Physical and Analytical Electrochemistry (LEPA) at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne for the inkjet printing of catalyst layers and membrane electrode assemblies are presented and future energy research directions of LEPA based on inkjet printing in the new Energypolis campus in the Canton of Valais are summarized.

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Section: Inkjet Printing Of Electrocatalystssupporting

confidence: 65%

Section: Inkjet Printing Of Electrocatalystsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inkjet Printing Meets Electrochemical Energy Conversion

Lesch

Cortés‐Salazar

Bassetto

et al. 2015

Chimia

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“…The ink is typically coated onto the polymer electrolyte membrane by use of a method such as spray coating or one involving a doctor blade. Newer methods such as those involving inkjets, 13 electrospinning, 14 and electrospray (ES) 15,16 have been developed to improve the precision of the ink coating on the membrane. In particular, the ES method is attractive due to its ability to stably eject sub-micrometer-sized droplets of the highly viscous catalyst ink.…”

Section: 12mentioning

confidence: 99%

Improvement of Cell Performance in Low-Pt-Loading PEFC Cathode Catalyst Layers Prepared by the Electrospray Method

Takahashi

Kakinuma

Uchida

2016

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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The reduction of Pt loading in cathode catalysts is an important subject for developing polymer electrolyte fuel cells. In order to solve this problem without sacrificing performance, we prepared a uniform catalyst-coated membrane (CCM) by an electrospray (ES) method with a low Pt loading, 0.05 mg Pt cm −2 , which is one-tenth of the typical cathode Pt loading. The ES process has several advantages for the fabrication of thin catalyst layers (CLs), such as smaller droplets and accurate position control, compared with the pulse-swirl-spray (PSS) method. Highly uniform CLs were evaluated by use of a standard evaluation cell (area 29.2 cm 2 ). The ES method makes it possible to control precisely the coating area and reduce the losses of the catalyst ink. CLs cross sections prepared by focused ion beam milling indicated that the total occupation fraction of the pores in the CLs prepared by the ES method was about twice as large as that for the PSS method. The ES method improved the ionomer coverage, led to increased electrochemically active surface area, and constructed more porous CLs. The highly porous CLs prepared by the ES method contributed to the improvement of the cell performance.

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“…These objectives can be accomplished via altering the constituent loading (solid content) in an ink or changing the solvent. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] This approach is sound for non-active coatings such as paints and barrier coatings but has significant drawbacks for active coatings (i.e. electrodes).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Catalyst Layer Ink Interactions That Affect Coatability

Dixit

Harkey

Shen

et al. 2018

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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Catalyst layer inks are examples of biphasic material systems composed of a solid material, a polymer, and a solvent. Nanoscale interactions between the individual constituents can alter macroscopic properties that are relevant for coating and manufacturing processes (i.e. viscosity, surface tension, aggregation, and rheology). Control over these macroscale properties are important for controlled electrode formation during scalable roll-to-roll manufacturing. The underlying interactions include polymer|particle, particle|solvent, and polymer|solvent interactions. In this work we systematically investigate polymer|particle interactions via studying a range of formulated inks composed of different solvents (methanol, isopropyl alcohol, octanol, and water), varying polymer loadings, and particles with different surface charges. Ink aging is also addressed and over short time periods (<1 hr shelf life) the addition of a perfluorosulfonic acid ionomer was shown to stabilize the ink and also decrease the aggregation size. However, over long time periods (168 hrs) the aggregation size is independent of polymer loading, and approaches a steady state aggregation size around 350 nm. This equilibrium point suggests that the polymer is free to diffuse, adsorb, and relax within the excluded volume region. Furthermore, these results suggest that primary aggregates can be broken up with the addition of very low polymer loadings (15% I:C). A semi-empirical model is used to describe polymer|particle interactions within the ink, and the polymer coverage at the surface of the carbon was found to be the most sensitive parameter dictating ink stability. Finally, coating and rheology experiments are completed on all inks.

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Analysis of Low Platinum Loading Thin Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Electrodes Prepared by Inkjet Printing

Cited by 115 publications

References 51 publications

Inkjet Printing Meets Electrochemical Energy Conversion

Inkjet Printing Meets Electrochemical Energy Conversion

Improvement of Cell Performance in Low-Pt-Loading PEFC Cathode Catalyst Layers Prepared by the Electrospray Method

Catalyst Layer Ink Interactions That Affect Coatability

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