Designing independent water transport channels to improve water flooding in ultra-thin nanoporous film cathodes for PEMFCs

Utilization of 3D nanostructured Pt cathodes could obviously improve performances of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) owing to the reduced tortuosity and the bi-continuous nanoporous structure. However, these cathodes usually suffer from the flooding problem ascribed to the ionomer-free and nanoscale pores which are more susceptible to water condensation. In this paper, ultra-thin nanoporous metal films (100 nm) were utilized to construct PEMFC cathodes and independent transport channels were designed separately for water and gas aiming at the flooding problem. Nanoporous gold (NPG) film was used as the model support for loading Pt nanoparticles owing to its controllable and stable structure. After optimizing the polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) content and carbon loading in the gas diffusion layer (GDL), plasma treatment under O₂ atmosphere was used to pattern the GDL with independent water transport channels. The obtained liquid permeation coefficients and oxygen gains demonstrated the obviously improved water and O₂ transport. By using a home-made optimized GDL and a nanoporous film cathode with pore size ～60 nm, the flooding problem could be facilely solved. With a Pt loading of ～16 μg cm^?2, this 3D nanostructured cathode exhibits a PEMFC performance of ～957 mW cm^?2 at 80 °C. The Pt power efficiency is about 4 times higher than that of the commercial Pt/C cathode (50 μg cm^?2, 756 mW cm^?2). Obviously, this study provides a simple but effective methodology to solve the water flooding problem in the ultra-thin nanoporous film cathodes which is applicable for other types of 3D nanostructured PEMFC cathodes.     

膜电极结构对质子交换膜燃料电池性能的影响

膜电极(MEA)作为质子交换膜燃料电池(PEMFC)的核心组件之一，其结构和组成对电池的性能有着重要的影响。提高膜电极性能的一个重要的指导思想是在催化粒子的周围形成良好的质子、电子和气体通道。以此为主线，从电极制备工艺的发展历程，Nafion的使用与质子通道的改进、电子通道的改进、阴极催化等几个方面详细地总结和讨论了近年来MEA的研究状况，并在此基础上对MEA的进一步研究提出了若干建议。     

制氢尾气二氧化碳回收装置设计

对制氢尾气二氧化碳的回收装置进行了简捷设计，流程分析，并对换热装置的换热量和传热面积给出了算法和有关数据。     

改良MEA脱碳技术在小氮厂变换气脱碳中的应用

介绍了改良MEA脱碳技术的基本原理、工艺特点以及在工业中的应用情况，实践表明，改良MEA提高了溶液的吸收能力，降低了再生热耗，解决了MEA易降解损耗等问题。     

A glue method for fabricating membrane electrode assemblies for direct methanol fuel cells

We present a simple glue method for fabricating membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC). Rather than the conventional “dry” hot-pressing method that relies solely on hot-pressing at a high pressure and temperature to form a MEA, the “wet” method developed in this work introduces a binding agent, consisting of Nafion^® solution, between a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) and an anode/cathode. The introduced binding agent can provide a better adhesion and stronger binding force between a membrane and an electrode, thereby facilitating a better interfacial contact between the electrode and the Nafion^® membrane, which has been proved by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses to the cross-sectional morphology of the MEA after long-term operation. The cell performance characterization showed the MEA fabricated by the glue method was more stable in cell performance than that fabricated by the conventional hot-pressing method. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) results also demonstrated the MEA fabricated by the glue method exhibited a higher electrochemical surface area (ESA) as a result of the improved interfacial contact between the Nafion^® membrane and the electrodes. Finally, the DMFC with the MEA fabricated by the glue method was characterized by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).     

Characterization of catalysts and membrane in DMFC lifetime testing

The lifetime and performance of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) were investigated to understand the correlation between the structure of catalysts/membrane and cell performance versus time. The cell polarization and performance curves were obtained during the DMFC operation with the time. The catalysts and Nafion^® membrane of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) from the lifetime test were comprehensively examined by XRD, HRTEM, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy techniques. The results revealed that there was significant performance degradation during the first 200 h operation; while the degradation was slowing down between 200 and 704 h operation. The degradation became worse after 1002 h operation. The increases of the catalyst particle size from both anode and cathode catalysts were observed after the DMFC lifetime test. The changes of microstructure, surface composition, the interfacial structure of the MEA, and the aging of Nafion^® under the DMFC lifetime tests were also observed.     

热输入对双相不锈钢管接头力学和腐蚀性能的影响

采用两种焊接工艺对双相不锈钢管道进行全位置焊接，对比研究了不同热输入条件下焊接接头的组织、力学性能和抗腐蚀性能，并用扫描电镜分析了缝隙腐蚀后蚀坑的组织特征。结果表明，焊接热输入是影响焊接接头相比例的一个重要参数，焊接采用高热输入时，尽管会使凝固组织铁素体晶粒易长大，但却会促使较多的奥氏体转变。同时相比例又影响着焊接接头的拉伸、冲击韧度等力学性能。蚀坑扫描电镜结果显示铁素体相优先被腐蚀，露出管状的奥氏体组织，这是由于合金元素在两相中的分配比例不同造成的电化学势差，进而形成局部选择性腐蚀。     

热塑性复合材料自动纤维铺放装备技术

基于热塑性复合材料(TPC)自动纤维铺放(AFP)原位固结技术,开展热塑性复合材料AFP装备技术研究,分析AFP平台的功能需求,提出平台总体规划方案,设计开发热塑性复合材料自动铺丝头,并提出预浸纱张力控制方案、精确送纱及温度闭环控制方案。在此基础上,设计AFP系统可行性验证实验,证明方案的可行性和平台的实用价值。结果表明:本实验平台针对热塑性复合材料铺放特点,优化张力与铺放速度匹配,实现预浸纱动态恒张力铺放,确保成型构件质量;实验平台调控铺放速度与送纱协调,实现精确定位,保障成型构件尺寸;建立了铺放速度与加热功率、热流分布关系,实现高精度温度场分布控制。虽AFP成型构件的力学性能比热模压成型构件的力学性能低约20%,但为热塑性复合材料AFP装备技术的广泛应用奠定了基础。     

A completely slot die coated membrane electrode assembly

This work shows how to manufacture completely coated membrane electrode assemblies (CC-MEAs) for PEM water electrolysis by only using a slot die. Platinum, Nafion^®, and IrO₂ dispersions are successively coated to the respective dried layer. For comparison reasons, MEAs with the same Iridium loading of 2.1 mg cm⁻² and Platinum loading of 0.4 mg cm⁻², assembled with a commercial membrane of the same 20 μm thickness, were produced via decal method. Differences in polarization curves are attributed to the lower high frequency resistance of CC-MEAs determined by impedance spectroscopy. The easy-to-scale CC-MEA method presented here offers the advantages of direct membrane deposition (DMD) without the challenge of homogenously coating a porous transport layer (PTL). Therefore, it allows a free choice of different PTLs – regardless if in sintered form or as expanded metal. The comparability between the produced CC-MEAs and published DMD results is shown by means of cross-sectional and electrochemical measurements.     

Cold pre-compression of membrane electrode assembly for PEM fuel cells

Direct compression from the land structure of bipolar plate in a PEM fuel cell is considered as an important factor for the higher performance under the land than under the channel areas. Therefore the objective of this study is to determine if a cold pre-compression treatment on the whole membrane electrode assembly (MEA) area may have a significant positive effect on the overall performance of the cell. Five different levels of cold pre-compression have been applied and the experimental results show that the overall performance of the cell first increases with the level of compression to a maximum, and then decreases. These results clearly show that cold pre-compression of the MEA can significantly enhance the performance of the entire cell and there exists an optimal level of compression. Results of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) show that the cold pre-compression results in a significant reduction in charge transfer resistance, especially in the high current density region. Further study by the cyclic voltammetry (CV) shows that the electro-chemical area (ECA) is changed with the different cold pre-compressed MEAs and there exists an optimal compression that results in the maximum ECA.