Scalable sacrificial templating to increase porosity and platinum utilisation in graphene-based polymer electrolyte fuel cell electrodes
File(s)nanomaterials-11-02530.pdf (3.23 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Polymer electrolyte fuel cells hold great promise for a range of applications but require advances in durability for widespread commercial uptake. Corrosion of the carbon support is one of the main degradation pathways; hence, corrosion-resilient graphene has been widely suggested as an alternative to traditional carbon black. However, the performance of bulk graphene-based electrodes is typically lower than that of commercial carbon black due to their stacking effects. This article reports a simple, scalable and non-destructive method through which the pore structure and platinum utilisation of graphene-based membrane electrode assemblies can be significantly improved. Urea is incorporated into the catalyst ink before deposition, and is then simply removed from the catalyst layer after spraying by submerging the electrode in water. This additive hinders graphene restacking and increases porosity, resulting in a significant increase in Pt utilisation and current density. This technique does not require harsh template etching and it represents a pathway to significantly improve graphene-based electrodes by introducing hierarchical porosity using scalable liquid processes.
Date Issued
2021-09-28
Date Acceptance
2021-09-22
Citation
Nanomaterials, 2021, 11 (10), pp.1-13
ISSN
2079-4991
Publisher
MDPI AG
Start Page
1
End Page
13
Journal / Book Title
Nanomaterials
Volume
11
Issue
10
Copyright Statement
© 2021 by the authors.
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/).
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/).
License URL
Sponsor
Commission of the European Communities
Commission of the European Communities
Commission of the European Communities
Identifier
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/10/2530
Grant Number
785219
881603
696656
Subjects
0912 Materials Engineering
1007 Nanotechnology
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-09-28