Solvent effect on the electrochemical performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell using Electrostatic Spray Deposition (ESD)

Abstract

The platinum deposition content needs to be decreased without sacrificing performance of the cell to be a commercialization of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). In this paper, the solvent effect is investigated to achieve high proton exchange membrane fuel cell performance with ultra-low platinum loading using electrostatic spray deposition (ESD). The suspensions containing Pt/C, Nafion ionomer and solvent were electro-sprayed over carbon paper with 0.02mg/cm2 platinum loading. Here in, N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF), isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and ethanol were used as solvent of the suspension. The effect of solvents of the catalyst inks on the electrode structure and performance was investigated. In addition, the particle size was examined using dynamic laser light scattering (DLS) analysis. Also, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to confirm dendritic morphology and performance. The membrane electrode assembly (MEA) prepared by DMF shows superior fuel-cell performance to IPA and ethanol due to an improved electrode morphology.