Akella Sri Harsha, D Ebenezer, R S Sai Siddhardha, Ahire Alkesh, Mal Nawal Kishor
Material Science and Technology, Innovation Center, Tata Chemicals Limited, Pune, India.
Sci Rep. 2018 Aug 14;8(1):12082. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-30215-0.
Electrode fabrication and membrane electrode assembly (MEA) processes are critical steps in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) technology. The properties of decal substrate material are important in decal coating technique for efficient transfer of catalyst layer. In the present study, MEAs are fabricated in decal method using 6 different decal substrates among which polypropylene (PP) is found ideal. Morphological, thermal, spectroscopic and sessile drop measurements are conducted for 6 decal substrates to evaluate the thermal and physicochemical properties. Studies indicate PP is thermally stable at hot-press conditions, having optimal hydrophobicity that hinders the coagulation of catalyst ink slurry cast. The pristine PP film has been identified to showcase 100% transfer yield onto the Nafion membrane without contamination and delamination of catalyst layer from membrane. The PP based MEAs are evaluated underconstant current mode in a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell test fixture. The performance is found to be of 0.6 V at a constant current density of 1.2 A.cm. Besides, the cost of PP-film is only 7.5% of Kapton-film, and hence the current research work enables the high throughput electrode fabrication process for PEMFC commercialization.
电极制造和膜电极组件（MEA）工艺是聚合物电解质膜燃料电池（PEMFC）技术中的关键步骤。贴花衬底材料的性能对于实现催化剂层高效转移的贴花涂层技术至关重要。在本研究中，采用6种不同的贴花衬底通过贴花法制造MEA，其中发现聚丙烯（PP）是理想的材料。对6种贴花衬底进行了形态、热、光谱和静滴测量，以评估其热性能和物理化学性能。研究表明，PP在热压条件下具有热稳定性，具有最佳的疏水性，可防止浇铸的催化剂油墨浆料凝结。已确定原始PP膜在Nafion膜上的转移产率为100%，且催化剂层不会从膜上污染和分层。基于PP的MEA在氢氧燃料电池测试装置中以恒流模式进行评估。在1.2 A.cm的恒流密度下，性能为0.6 V。此外，PP膜的成本仅为Kapton膜的7.5%，因此当前的研究工作为PEMFC商业化实现了高通量电极制造工艺。
