Composition of Surface Layers Prepared by Ion Beam Assisted Deposition of Catalytic Metals from Pulsed Arc-Discharge Plasma onto Carbon Paper Substrates

Abstract

The layers were prepared by ion beam assisted deposition of iridium and platinum onto AVCarb ® Carbon Fiber Paper P50 electrocatalyst supports for the production of diffusion layers of the membrane-electrode assemblies of low temperature fuel cells with polymer electrolyte membrane. Formation of the layers in the ion beam assisted deposition mode, by means of the deposition of metal and mixing of precipitating layer with the substrate by the accelerated (U = 10 kV) ions of the same metal, was performed. In this process neutral fraction of metal vapour and ionized plasma of vacuum pulsed electric arc discharge were used. The investigations of morphology and composition of layers were carried out by the scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis, wave dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis, and the Rutherford backscattering spectrometry methods. It was established that the obtained catalytic layers contain atoms of the deposited metals and substrate material as well as impurity oxygen atoms. The surfaces contain also metal inclusions of several micrometer size which arise from the precipitation of deposited metal droplets from the arc discharge of an ion source. The content of iridium and platinum atoms in the layers is ≈ 2 × 10 16 cm −2 ; the concentration of the deposited metals equals about several atomic percent.