Yingnakorn Tanongsak, Gordon Ross, Florido Daniel Marin, Elgar Christopher E, Jacobson Ben, Li Shida, Prentice Paul, Abbott Andrew P, Yang Jake M
School of Chemistry, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom; School of Metallurgical Engineering, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand.
Johnson Matthey Technology Centre, Blounts Court Road, Sonning Common, RG4 9NH, United Kingdom.
Ultrason Sonochem. 2025 May;116:107330. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2025.107330. Epub 2025 Mar 26.
This study demonstrates a rapid and facile method for separating the central membrane and catalyst-coated material from production scrap fuel cell catalyst-coated membranes (CCMs), facilitating a circular economy of technologically critical metals. A novel approach is presented using high-intensity ultrasonication with two distinct sonotrode configurations for rapid delamination at ambient temperature in water. This technique utilises cavitation, where high-frequency sound waves create, expand, and collapse microbubbles, generating high-speed jets, shockwaves, and acoustic streaming. This process effectively separates the membrane and catalyst while maintaining their overall integrity of the former. A cylindrical sonotrode (20 mm diameter) was used to optimise process parameters for smaller CCM samples to minimise time and energy consumption. To scale up the delamination process for industrial-size CCMs, a blade sonotrode (15 mm x 210 mm) was employed to enable a flow process for rapid and continuous delamination. Cavitation at the sonotrode-CCM interface was shown to facilitate the selective and rapid breakdown of the catalyst layers, enabling full delamination of the catalyst-loaded membrane within tens of seconds. This efficient and fast delamination approach offers a promising strategy for CCM recycling.
本研究展示了一种快速简便的方法，用于从生产废料燃料电池催化膜（CCM）中分离中心膜和催化剂涂层材料，促进关键技术金属的循环经济。提出了一种新颖的方法，即在水中常温下使用高强度超声处理，并采用两种不同的超声换能器配置进行快速分层。该技术利用了空化现象，即高频声波产生、膨胀和坍缩微气泡，产生高速射流、冲击波和声流。这一过程有效地分离了膜和催化剂，同时保持了膜的整体完整性。使用圆柱形超声换能器（直径20毫米）对较小的CCM样品优化工艺参数，以最小化时间和能耗。为了扩大工业尺寸CCM的分层过程，采用了叶片超声换能器（15毫米×210毫米）以实现快速连续分层的流动过程。超声换能器与CCM界面处的空化现象被证明有助于催化剂层的选择性快速分解，能够在几十秒内使负载催化剂的膜完全分层。这种高效快速的分层方法为CCM回收提供了一种有前景的策略。
