Electrochemically Produced Graphene for Microporous Layers in Fuel Cells
The microporous layer (MPL) is a key cathodic component in proton exchange membrane fuel cells owing to its beneficial influence on two‐phase mass transfer. However, its performance is highly dependent on material properties such as morphology, porous structure, and electrical resistance. To improve...
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Published in | ChemSusChem Vol. 9; no. 13; pp. 1689 - 1697 |
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Main Authors | , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Germany
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
07.07.2016
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The microporous layer (MPL) is a key cathodic component in proton exchange membrane fuel cells owing to its beneficial influence on two‐phase mass transfer. However, its performance is highly dependent on material properties such as morphology, porous structure, and electrical resistance. To improve water management and performance, electrochemically exfoliated graphene (EGN) microsheets are considered as an alternative to the conventional carbon black (CB) MPLs. The EGN‐based MPLs decrease the kinetic overpotential and the Ohmic potential loss, whereas the addition of CB to form a composite EGN+CB MPL improves the mass‐transport limiting current density drastically. This is reflected by increases of approximately 30 and 70 % in peak power densities at 100 % relative humidity (RH) compared with those for CB‐ and EGN‐only MPLs, respectively. The composite EGN+CB MPL also retains the superior performance at a cathode RH of 20 %, whereas the CB MPL shows significant performance loss.
Graphene in action: Graphene microsheets are synthesized and incorporated in microporous layers in polymer electrolytic membrane fuel cells. Significant improvements in power density are obtained through the formation of a graphene and carbon black composite layer. The improvement, which is also maintained at low humidity, is attributed to the high conductivity and unique morphological structure of the composite layer. |
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Bibliography: | ArticleID:CSSC201600351 ark:/67375/WNG-J736FDJK-G istex:8342B74EDDEBA468CBE6A01299AF74D464C92303 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada CaRPE-FC These authors contributed equally to this work. ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1864-5631 1864-564X |
DOI: | 10.1002/cssc.201600351 |