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Carbon-Nanowall Microporous Layers for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell
The cathode microporous layer (MPL), as one of the key components of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEM-FC), requires specialized carbon materials to ensure the two-phase flow and interfacial effects. In this respect, we designed a novel MPL based on highly hydrophobic carbon nanowalls (CNW...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2022
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9698599/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36363619 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/membranes12111064 |
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author | Balan, Adriana Elena Bita, Bogdan Ionut Vizireanu, Sorin Dinescu, Gheorghe Stamatin, Ioan Trefilov, Alexandra Maria Isabel |
author_facet | Balan, Adriana Elena Bita, Bogdan Ionut Vizireanu, Sorin Dinescu, Gheorghe Stamatin, Ioan Trefilov, Alexandra Maria Isabel |
author_sort | Balan, Adriana Elena |
collection | PubMed |
description | The cathode microporous layer (MPL), as one of the key components of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEM-FC), requires specialized carbon materials to ensure the two-phase flow and interfacial effects. In this respect, we designed a novel MPL based on highly hydrophobic carbon nanowalls (CNW). Employing plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition techniques directly on carbon paper, we produced high-quality microporous layers at a competitive yield-to-cost ratio with distinctive MPL properties: high porosity, good stability, considerable durability, high hydrophobicity, and substantial conductivity. The specific morphological and structural properties were determined by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Thermo-gravimetric analysis was employed to study the nanostructures’ thermal stability and contact angle measurements were performed on the CNW substrate to study the hydrophobic character. Platinum ink, serving as a fuel cell catalyst, was sprayed directly onto the MPLs and incorporated in the FC assembly by hot-pressing against a polymeric membrane to form the membrane-electrode assembly and gas diffusion layers. Single-fuel-cell testing, at moderate temperature and humidity, revealed improved power performance comparable to industrial quality membrane assemblies (500 mW cm(−2) mg(−1) of cathodic Pt load at 80 °C and 80% RH), with elevated working potential (0.99 V) and impeccable fuel crossover for a low-cost system. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9698599 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-96985992022-11-26 Carbon-Nanowall Microporous Layers for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Balan, Adriana Elena Bita, Bogdan Ionut Vizireanu, Sorin Dinescu, Gheorghe Stamatin, Ioan Trefilov, Alexandra Maria Isabel Membranes (Basel) Article The cathode microporous layer (MPL), as one of the key components of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEM-FC), requires specialized carbon materials to ensure the two-phase flow and interfacial effects. In this respect, we designed a novel MPL based on highly hydrophobic carbon nanowalls (CNW). Employing plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition techniques directly on carbon paper, we produced high-quality microporous layers at a competitive yield-to-cost ratio with distinctive MPL properties: high porosity, good stability, considerable durability, high hydrophobicity, and substantial conductivity. The specific morphological and structural properties were determined by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Thermo-gravimetric analysis was employed to study the nanostructures’ thermal stability and contact angle measurements were performed on the CNW substrate to study the hydrophobic character. Platinum ink, serving as a fuel cell catalyst, was sprayed directly onto the MPLs and incorporated in the FC assembly by hot-pressing against a polymeric membrane to form the membrane-electrode assembly and gas diffusion layers. Single-fuel-cell testing, at moderate temperature and humidity, revealed improved power performance comparable to industrial quality membrane assemblies (500 mW cm(−2) mg(−1) of cathodic Pt load at 80 °C and 80% RH), with elevated working potential (0.99 V) and impeccable fuel crossover for a low-cost system. MDPI 2022-10-29 /pmc/articles/PMC9698599/ /pubmed/36363619 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/membranes12111064 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Balan, Adriana Elena Bita, Bogdan Ionut Vizireanu, Sorin Dinescu, Gheorghe Stamatin, Ioan Trefilov, Alexandra Maria Isabel Carbon-Nanowall Microporous Layers for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell |
title | Carbon-Nanowall Microporous Layers for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell |
title_full | Carbon-Nanowall Microporous Layers for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell |
title_fullStr | Carbon-Nanowall Microporous Layers for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell |
title_full_unstemmed | Carbon-Nanowall Microporous Layers for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell |
title_short | Carbon-Nanowall Microporous Layers for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell |
title_sort | carbon-nanowall microporous layers for proton exchange membrane fuel cell |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9698599/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36363619 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/membranes12111064 |
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