ELECTRODE DESIGN WITH OPTIMAL IONOMER CONTENT FOR POLYMER ELECTROLYTE MEMBRANE FUEL CELL

• Main Authors: KUMARAGURU SWAMINATHA P, KOZHINOVA IRINA, KOESTNER ROLAND J
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 03.03.2016
• Subjects: BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION ORPROCESSING OF GOODS; ELECTRICITY; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSIONOF CHEMICAL INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINSTCLIMATE CHANGE

A method of making a membrane electrode assembly for a fuel cell, a membrane electrode assembly, a fuel cell and a fuel cell system. The method includes preferentially adsorbing an ionomer and electrocatalyst mixture onto the surface of a porous fuel cell substrate by appropriate treatment of the mixture prior to or contemporaneous with placement of the mixture onto the substrate. This promotes retention of the ionomer-coated electrocatalyst at or near the surface of the substrate where catalytic activity between it and a proton exchange membrane is designed to take place. Retention of the ionomer-coated electrocatalyst near these interfacial regions by the present invention is preferable to having the ionomer and electrocatalyst be significantly absorbed into the substrate.