Electrohydrodynamic Atomization Deposition of Fuel Cell Catalyst-Coated Membrane with Structure and Material Gradient Variation

A catalyst-coated membrane (CCM) with structure and material gradient variation was deposited layer-by-layer (LbL) using electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA) deposition. This CCM contained 7 layers which is C cathode diffusion layer, Pt/C-C cathode transition layer, Pt/C cathode catalyst layer, Nafion membrane, Pt-Ru/C anode catalyst layer, Pt-Ru/C-C anode transition layer and C anode diffusion layer. The cathode and anode side were named as cathode and anode catalyst-diffusion layers, respectively. It was observed that the cathode and anode catalyst-diffusion layers presented the dendritic structure. Within the cathode and anode catalyst-diffusion layers, the Pt/C-C and Pt-Ru/C-C transition layer was more porous compared to the C layer, Pt/C layer and Pt-Ru/C layer. It was also shown that the EHDA LbL deposited CCM still presented close-packed structure after life test.