Effect of carbon material and surfactant on ink property and resulting surface cracks of fuel-cell microporous layers

doi:10.1016/j.cjche.2024.01.023

中国化学工程学报 ›› 2024, Vol. 69 ›› Issue (5): 1-12.DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2024.01.023

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Effect of carbon material and surfactant on ink property and resulting surface cracks of fuel-cell microporous layers

Zhekun Chen¹, Weitong Pan^1,2, Longfei Tang¹, Xueli Chen¹, Fuchen Wang¹

1. Engineering Research Center of Resource Utilization of Carbon-containing Waste with Carbon Neutrality, Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China;
2. Key Laboratory of Pressure Systems and Safety, Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China

收稿日期:2023-06-26 修回日期:2024-01-02 出版日期:2024-05-28 发布日期:2024-07-01
通讯作者: Weitong Pan,E-mail:pwt@ecust.edu.cn;Xueli Chen,E-mail:cxl@ecust.edu.cn
基金资助:
The research is supported by China National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents (BX20230121), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2023M741163) and Shanghai Super Postdoctoral Incentive Program (2023741).

Effect of carbon material and surfactant on ink property and resulting surface cracks of fuel-cell microporous layers

Zhekun Chen¹, Weitong Pan^1,2, Longfei Tang¹, Xueli Chen¹, Fuchen Wang¹

1. Engineering Research Center of Resource Utilization of Carbon-containing Waste with Carbon Neutrality, Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China;
2. Key Laboratory of Pressure Systems and Safety, Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China

Received:2023-06-26 Revised:2024-01-02 Online:2024-05-28 Published:2024-07-01
Contact: Weitong Pan,E-mail:pwt@ecust.edu.cn;Xueli Chen,E-mail:cxl@ecust.edu.cn
Supported by:
The research is supported by China National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents (BX20230121), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2023M741163) and Shanghai Super Postdoctoral Incentive Program (2023741).

摘要/Abstract

摘要： Ensuring the consistency of electrode structure in proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells is highly desired yet challenging because of wide-existing and unguided cracks in the microporous layer (MPL). The first thing is to evaluate the homogeneity of MPL with cracks quantitatively. This paper proposes the homogeneity index of a full-scale MPL with an area of 50 cm², which is yet to be reported in the literature to our knowledge. Besides, the effects of the carbon material and surfactant on the ink and resulting MPL structure have been studied. The ink with a high network development degree produces an MPL with low crack density, but the ink with high PDI produces an MPL with low crack homogeneity. The polarity of the surfactant and the non-polarity of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) are not mutually soluble, resulting in the heterogeneous PTFE distribution. The findings of this study provide guidelines for MPL fabrication.

关键词: Proton-exchange-membrane fuel cell, Microporous layer, Crack density, Crack homogeneity, Polytetrafluoroethylene distribution, Surfactant

Abstract: Ensuring the consistency of electrode structure in proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells is highly desired yet challenging because of wide-existing and unguided cracks in the microporous layer (MPL). The first thing is to evaluate the homogeneity of MPL with cracks quantitatively. This paper proposes the homogeneity index of a full-scale MPL with an area of 50 cm², which is yet to be reported in the literature to our knowledge. Besides, the effects of the carbon material and surfactant on the ink and resulting MPL structure have been studied. The ink with a high network development degree produces an MPL with low crack density, but the ink with high PDI produces an MPL with low crack homogeneity. The polarity of the surfactant and the non-polarity of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) are not mutually soluble, resulting in the heterogeneous PTFE distribution. The findings of this study provide guidelines for MPL fabrication.

Key words: Proton-exchange-membrane fuel cell, Microporous layer, Crack density, Crack homogeneity, Polytetrafluoroethylene distribution, Surfactant

Zhekun Chen, Weitong Pan, Longfei Tang, Xueli Chen, Fuchen Wang. Effect of carbon material and surfactant on ink property and resulting surface cracks of fuel-cell microporous layers[J]. 中国化学工程学报, 2024, 69(5): 1-12.

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Effect of carbon material and surfactant on ink property and resulting surface cracks of fuel-cell microporous layers

Effect of carbon material and surfactant on ink property and resulting surface cracks of fuel-cell microporous layers

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