School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China.
Key Laboratory of Low-Carbon Conversion Science & Engineering, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210, China.
Nano Lett. 2022 Dec 14;22(23):9434-9440. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c03461. Epub 2022 Dec 5.
Insufficient catalyst utilization, limited mass transport, and high ohmic resistance of the conventional membrane electrode assembly (MEA) lead to significant performance losses of proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE). Herein we propose a novel ordered MEA based on anode with a 3D membrane/catalytic layer (CL) interface and gradient tapered arrays by the nanoimprinting method, confirmed by energy dispersive spectroscopy. Benefiting from the maximized triple-phase interface, rapid mass transport, and gradient CL by overall design, such an ordered structure with Ir loading of 0.2 mg cm not only greatly increases the electrochemical active area by 4.2 times but also decreases the overpotentials of both mass transport and ohmic polarization by 13.9% and 8.7%, respectively, compared with conventional MEA with an Ir loading of 2 mg cm, thus ensuring a superior performance (1.801 V at 2 A cm) and good stability. This work provides a new strategy of designing MEA for high-performance PEMWE.
传统的膜电极组件（MEA）存在催化剂利用率低、传质受限和欧姆电阻高的问题，导致质子交换膜水电解（PEMWE）性能损失显著。在此，我们提出了一种基于纳米压印法的新型有序MEA，其具有 3D 膜/催化层（CL）界面和梯度渐缩阵列，这一点通过能谱分析得到了证实。得益于三相界面的最大化、整体设计的快速传质和梯度 CL，这种有序结构的 Ir 负载量为 0.2mgcm，不仅将电化学活性面积提高了 4.2 倍，而且与 Ir 负载量为 2mgcm 的传统 MEA 相比，还分别降低了 13.9%和 8.7%的质量传输和欧姆极化过电势，从而确保了卓越的性能（在 2Acm 时为 1.801V）和良好的稳定性。这项工作为高性能 PEMWE 的 MEA 设计提供了一种新策略。
