Shimanuki Junichi, Takahashi Shinichi, Tohma Hajime, Ohma Atsushi, Ishihara Ayumi, Ito Yoshiko, Nishino Yuri, Miyazawa Atsuo
Functional Analysis Department, Nissan ARC Ltd., 1 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan.
Research Division, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., 1 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 237-8523, Japan.
Microscopy (Oxf). 2017 Jun 1;66(3):204-208. doi: 10.1093/jmicro/dfx001.
In order to improve the electricity generation performance of fuel cell electric vehicles, it is necessary to optimize the microstructure of the catalyst layer of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell. The catalyst layer is formed by a wet coating process using catalyst inks. Therefore, it is very important to observe the microstructure of the catalyst ink. In this study, the morphology of carbon-supported platinum (Pt/C) particles in catalyst inks with a different solvent composition was investigated by cryogenic scanning electron microscopy (cryo-SEM). In addition, the morphology of the ionomer, which presumably influences the formation of agglomerated Pt/C particles in a catalyst ink, was investigated by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM). The results of a cryo-SEM observation revealed that the agglomerated Pt/C particles tended to become coarser with a higher 1-propanol (NPA) weight fraction. The results of a cryo-TEM observation indicated that the actual ionomer dispersion in a catalyst ink formed a network structure different from that of the ionomer in the solvent.
为了提高燃料电池电动汽车的发电性能，有必要优化聚合物电解质燃料电池催化剂层的微观结构。催化剂层是通过使用催化剂墨水的湿涂工艺形成的。因此，观察催化剂墨水的微观结构非常重要。在本研究中，通过低温扫描电子显微镜（cryo-SEM）研究了具有不同溶剂组成的催化剂墨水中碳载铂（Pt/C）颗粒的形态。此外，通过低温透射电子显微镜（cryo-TEM）研究了可能影响催化剂墨水中团聚Pt/C颗粒形成的离聚物的形态。低温扫描电子显微镜观察结果表明，随着1-丙醇（NPA）重量分数的增加，团聚的Pt/C颗粒趋于变粗。低温透射电子显微镜观察结果表明，催化剂墨水中实际的离聚物分散体形成了与溶剂中离聚物不同的网络结构。
