Inkjet printing of carbon supported platinum 3-D catalyst layers for use in fuel cells

Taylor, André D.; Kim, Edward Y.; Humes, Virgil P.; Kizuka, Jeremy M.; Thompson, Levi T.

doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2007.01.024

Cited by 154 publications

(93 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Inkjet printing of a complete MEA onto a GDL is principally possible (Fig. 5a), as reported previously by Taylor et al, [37] but it suffers clearly from the porosity of the GDL. A main part of the ink goes inside the Toray paper rather than staying on the top of the three-dimensional carbon fiber network ( Fig.…”

Section: Inkjet Printing Of Electrocatalystssupporting

confidence: 67%

“…[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%

“…[37] Catalyst loadings as low as 0.021 mg Pt cm -2 and a high Pt utilization of 17.6 kW g -1 Pt were achieved. The authors have also demonstrated the flexibility of inkjet printing as they printed CLs composed of graded Pt concentrations starting from high at the Nafion membrane (i.e.…”

Section: Inkjet Printing Of Electrocatalystsmentioning

confidence: 91%

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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: 67%

Section: Inkjet Printing Of Electrocatalystssupporting

confidence: 65%

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Inkjet Printing Meets Electrochemical Energy Conversion

Lesch

Cortés‐Salazar

Bassetto

et al. 2015

Chimia

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“…The CCM-Fi prepared by ACLJS in this work showed better performance than other systems in the literature using the same Platinum/Vulcan electrocatalyst despite having significantly lower catalyst loading. 24,[30][31][32] The comparison of this work to the literature will be expanded in the Comparison of ACLJS spraying to other PEMFC electrode fabrication methods section.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fabrication of High Performing PEMFC Catalyst-Coated Membranes with a Low Cost Air-Assisted Cylindrical Liquid Jets Spraying System

Peng

Omasta

Rigdon

et al. 2016

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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In this work, a low cost air-assisted cylindrical liquid jets spraying (ACLJS) system was developed to prepare high-performance catalyst-coated membranes (CCMs) for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The catalyst ink was flowed from a cylindrical orifice and was atomized by an air stream fed from a coaxial slit and sprayed directly onto the membrane, which was suctioned to a heated aluminum vacuum plate. The CCM pore architecture including size, distribution and volume can be controlled using various flow parameters, and the impact of spraying conditions on electrode structure and PEMFC performance was investigated. CCMs fabricated in the fiber-type break-up regime by ACLJS achieved very high performance during PEMFC testing, with the top-performing cells having a current density greater than 1900 mA/cm 2 at 0.7 V under H 2 /O 2 flows and 700 mA/cm 2 under H 2 /Air at 1.5 bar (absolute) PEMFCs have long been considered to be among the most promising next-generation energy conversion systems for portable devices and transportation vehicles due to their zero or low pollution, high power density and low temperature operation.1-3 However, the widespread commercialization of PEMFCs remains challenged by the high cost of cell assembly and the requirement of durable performance. In the last decade, significant efforts have been launched to make the technology cost competitive and to improve the cell performance by developing new electrocatalysts and lowering the noble metal loading. 4,5 However, the catalyst composition is not the only factor to consider when creating high-performance, low cost PEMFC electrodes.The electrode pore structure plays a critical role in determining PEMFC performance, and it is a direct result of the application method. The electrode porosity and pore size distribution impact reaction kinetics and mass-transport processes, including water management and electron/proton conduction.6-8 Structural optimization can be decisive in reducing performance losses, particularly at low catalyst loading and high current density. 9 In general, the catalyst coated membrane (CCM) method has been found to be superior to the gas diffusion layer (GDL) coating process because CCM fabrication avoids catalyst particles penetrating into the pore network of the GDL, lowering resistance at the interface with the electrolyte. For the CCM method, the catalyst ink can be applied onto the polymer membrane by brushing, screen printing, spraying, reactive spray deposition as well as roll-to-roll methods.6,10-14 Among them, spraying has been commonly employed for CCM fabrication. 11,15,16 However, the effects of spraying conditions on the electrode structure and PEMFC performance are poorly understood in many systems, including the air-assisted cylindrical liquid jets spraying (ACLJS) system.The objective of this work is to investigate the influence of spraying parameters on CCM structure and performance, with a particular focus on the ACLJS system because of its ability to produce very high performance CCMs at...

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“…Doctor blade application resembles screen-printing but the thickness of the film is controlled by separation of the blade and the substrate and there is no mesh [200]. Commercial inkjet printing has also been used with inks of finely tuned viscosity and surface tension to produce CLs [201,202]. Due to the very small volumes of ink deposited at a time, the catalyst loading can be accurately controlled even at low concentrations (<0.05 mg cm -2 ).…”

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confidence: 99%

Silicon nanograss as micro fuel cell gas diffusion layer

et al. 2010

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Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) produce electrical energy directly from chemical energy. They are a promising candidate for power sources of portable devices due to the high energy density of methanol and the quick recharging procedure by fuel insertion. However, the problem areas of the DMFC are the slow electro-oxidation of methanol and the permeated methanol reacting at the cathode. New catalysts are constantly searched but they are often tested only for catalytic activity and the DMFC testing is omitted even though the catalyst layer (CL) structure has a large impact on the performance. Miniaturization of the system is also necessary for portable applications. Silicon etching can be used to fabricate small structures for fuel cells replacing or enhancing the functions of laboratory-scale components.In the first part of this thesis, new catalysts for the DMFC are studied with the emphasis on the CL structure. Different carbon supports for the anode were studied: standard carbon black and alternative few-walled carbon nanotubes (FWCNT) and graphitized carbon nanofiber (GNF). The alternative supports showed better DMFC performance but their stability was lower than with carbon black. However, the CL formed with GNF showed a very porous structure enhancing the mass transfer, so that higher binder content could be used improving the stability to the level of carbon black and the performance by 30%. The FWCNTs were also investigated as a platform for enzymatic methanol oxidation by studying the electrochemical properties of an immobilized cofactor pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ). A large amount of PQQ was adsorbed having a strong redox response and good stability in a wide pH window. For the cathode, a methanol-tolerant, Pt-free nitrogen-doped FWCNTs were tested in an alkaline DMFC as such testing is not often made. Its performance was remarkably 4 times better than with Pt when synthetic air was used as the oxidant.In the second part of thesis, an integrated gas diffusion layer (GDL) consisting of Si nanoneedles (nanograss) was tested in a micro fuel cell (MFC). The layer functioned properly at low current densities. For high power applications, a standard carbon cloth GDL was tested with the nanograss as a contact surface reducing the resistance between the GDL and the flow field. The use of the nanograss improved the MFC performance and stability. Finally, the MFCs were used as a catalyst testing platform and the results were compared with a similar test in a laboratory-scale DMFC. The results varied showing that the DMFC components also have a large impact on catalyst testing.Keywords direct methanol fuel cell, carbon nanomaterials, micro fuel cells, catalyst layer Tiivistelmä Suorametanolipolttokennot (SMPK) tuottavat sähköenergiaa suoraan kemiallisesta energiasta. Ne ovat lupaava vaihtoehto kannettavien laitteiden voimanlähteeksi, koska metanolilla on korkea energiatiheys ja lataaminen tapahtuu nopeasti polttoainelisäyksellä. SMPK:lla on kuitenkin rajoitteina metanolin hidas hapetusreaktio ja katodi...

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Inkjet printing of carbon supported platinum 3-D catalyst layers for use in fuel cells

Cited by 154 publications

References 30 publications

Inkjet Printing Meets Electrochemical Energy Conversion

Inkjet Printing Meets Electrochemical Energy Conversion

Fabrication of High Performing PEMFC Catalyst-Coated Membranes with a Low Cost Air-Assisted Cylindrical Liquid Jets Spraying System

Silicon nanograss as micro fuel cell gas diffusion layer

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