A fully spray-coated fuel cell membrane electrode assembly using Aquivion ionomer with a graphene oxide/cerium oxide interlayer

Breitwieser M, Bayer T, Buechler A, Zengerle R, Lyth SM, Thiele S (2017)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2017

Journal

Journal of Power Sources Elsevier

Book Volume: 351

Pages Range: 145-150

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2017.03.085

Abstract

A novel multilayer membrane electrode assembly (MEA) for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is fabricated in this work, within a single spray-coating device. For the first time, direct membrane deposition is used to fabricate a PEMFC by spraying the short-side-chain ionomer Aquivion directly onto the gas diffusion electrodes. The fully sprayed MEA, with an Aquivion membrane 10 μm in thickness, achieved a high power density of 1.6 W/cm2 for H2/air operation at 300 kPaabs. This is one of the highest reported values for thin composite membranes operated in H2/air atmosphere. By the means of confocal laser scanning microscopy, individual carbon fibers from the gas diffusion layer are identified to penetrate through the micro porous layer (MPL), likely causing a low electrical cell resistance in the range of 150 Ω cm2 through the thin sprayed membranes. By spraying a 200 nm graphene oxide/cerium oxide (GO/CeO2) interlayer between two layers of Aquivion ionomer, the impact of the electrical short is eliminated and the hydrogen crossover current density is reduced to about 1 mA/cm2. The peak power density of the interlayer-containing MEA drops only by 10% compared to a pure Aquivion membrane of similar thickness.

Authors with CRIS profile

Simon Thiele

Involved external institutions

Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg DE Germany (DE) Kyushu University / 九州大学 JP Japan (JP) Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare Energiesysteme (ISE) / Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Breitwieser, M., Bayer, T., Buechler, A., Zengerle, R., Lyth, S.M., & Thiele, S. (2017). A fully spray-coated fuel cell membrane electrode assembly using Aquivion ionomer with a graphene oxide/cerium oxide interlayer. Journal of Power Sources, 351, 145-150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2017.03.085

MLA:

Breitwieser, Matthias, et al. "A fully spray-coated fuel cell membrane electrode assembly using Aquivion ionomer with a graphene oxide/cerium oxide interlayer." Journal of Power Sources 351 (2017): 145-150.

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