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| Home > Publications database > Optimization of the decal transfer process of Pt/C-layers supported onto PTFE and Kapton foils, prepared with different techniques |
| Home > Publications database > Optimization of the decal transfer process of Pt/C-layers supported onto PTFE and Kapton foils, prepared with different techniques |
| Poster (After Call) | FZJ-2026-00551 |
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2024
Abstract: Recent progress in energy transition by water electrolysis, especially PEM-electrolysis, bring it closer to becoming one of the everyday members of the existing variety of electrochemical devices that manage the hydrogen energy vector. However, to address certain issues like scaling up to industrial level, long-life operation problem and costs of the technologies, ever-increasing effort from industry and governments are still required to deliver them to the global market. Cost minimizing is a major concern for PEM-electrolysis, where high costs of raw materials – noble metals platinum and iridium represent one of the main obstacles to the spreading of this technology.Many efforts have been made in the last decade to switch from Pt to cheaper metals, but the performances are still not comparable. In this work we present the optimization of the decal transfer method (hot pressing), aimed at transferring low-quantity Pt-based catalyst layers, prepared on different substrates by means of Inkjet printing and doctor blade techniques, onto Nafion membrane for Fuel Cells and Electrolysers. These techniques, especially doctor blading, are more suitable for upscaling printing to larger areas compared to commonly used spray coating techniques, making their optimization crucial for improving large scale roll-to-roll processing of PEM electrolyzer membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs).To prepare catalyst layers with an Inkjet printer, platinum on graphitized carbon (Pt/C), was added to a mixture of 1-propanol and propylene glycol together with NafionTM, this suspension was then sonicated. This ink was used for preparing Membrane Electrode Assemblies (MEA). Several electrodes with different thickness were printed directly onto Kapton or PTFE foils, then following the decal transfer method, they were transferred on Nafion membranes by hot-pressing. MEAs with different thicknesses were also prepared by “doctor blade” technique. Here, ink composition is quite different, since to be spread on the substrate (PTFE, Kapton) and form a homogeneous film, the material must possess high viscosity, so the ratio catalyst/solvent was adjusted until a pasty texture was obtained. Early results in Fig. 1 show that PTFE substrate leads to better efficiency in terms of amount of material transferred, compared to Kapton. This finding found evidence in literature and suggests how PTFE could be a suitable candidate for future experiments.
Keyword(s): Chemistry (2nd)
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