Preparation method of fuel cell membrane electrode
Technical Field
The invention belongs to the technical field of fuel cells, and particularly relates to a preparation method of a fuel cell membrane electrode.
Background
The fuel cell is a power generation device which directly converts chemical energy into electric energy through electrochemical reaction, has the characteristics of high energy conversion efficiency, environmental friendliness and the like, and is considered as a clean and efficient power generation technology which is the first choice in the 21 st century.
Membrane electrodes are the site where electrochemical reactions occur, where the chemical energy in the fuel is directly converted into electrical energy. The membrane electrode is generally formed by stacking five layers of a cathode gas diffusion layer, a cathode catalyst layer, a proton exchange membrane, an anode catalyst layer, and an anode gas diffusion layer. The preparation method of the membrane electrode is divided into two methods, namely coating the catalyst on the proton exchange membrane (CCM process) and coating the catalyst on the gas diffusion layer (GDE process). The CCM process has the main advantages of excellent interface structure of the proton exchange membrane and the catalyst layer and higher discharge performance; the defects are that the process is high in difficulty and low in production efficiency, which is mainly determined by the operability of the proton exchange membrane, the perfluorosulfonic acid resin is easy to swell under the action of water or an alcohol solution, the size is increased in the coating process to cause more defects, the polybenzimidazole membrane soaked in acid contains a large amount of phosphoric acid, and a catalyst cannot be coated on the membrane. The GDE process has the main advantages that the coating operability of the substrate is good, the volume change is avoided in the coating process, the quality of the formed catalyst layer is high, and the main problem is that the proton exchange membrane and the catalyst layer interface are constructed by means of later hot pressing operation, so that the performance and the stability are poor. At present, the modification in the prior art mainly focuses on the two processes, and the two aspects of performance, production efficiency and quality cannot be considered at the same time.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to overcome the defects in the prior art and aims to provide a method for manufacturing a membrane electrode of a fuel cell. Combining the advantages of the CCM process and the GDE process, firstly, the GDE process is utilized to realize high-quality and high-speed preparation of the catalyst layer, then, a layer of electrolyte is coated on the surface of the GDE electrode to construct a catalyst layer and an electrolyte membrane interface with excellent performance, and finally, the membrane electrode preparation is completed through the pressing process. The new process has the advantages of both CCM and GDE, and can raise the performance and service life of membrane electrode obviously and lower production cost.
The invention is realized by adopting the following technical scheme:
a method for preparing a membrane electrode for a fuel cell, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) respectively coating cathode catalyst slurry and anode catalyst slurry on the surface of one side of a microporous layer of a flat-plate-shaped gas diffusion layer with the microporous layer, and drying to form a cathode gas diffusion electrode and an anode gas diffusion electrode;
(b) coating an electrolyte on the catalyst-side surface of the cathode gas diffusion electrode and/or the anode gas diffusion electrode obtained in the above (a);
(c) and (c) respectively placing the cathode gas diffusion electrode and the anode gas diffusion electrode obtained in the step (b) on two sides of a support material, wherein the electrolyte coating side surface of the cathode gas diffusion electrode or the anode gas diffusion electrode or the catalyst side surface faces the support material and is adhered with a flat support material into a whole to form a membrane electrode. According to the manufacturing method, the prepared membrane electrode has the advantages of both CCM and GDE processes, has excellent electrolyte membrane and catalyst layer interfaces, and has good production operability. Thus, the performance and the service life of the membrane electrode are improved, and meanwhile, the production cost is lower.
Wherein the coating process in the step (a) is one or more of a spraying method, a coating method and a screen printing method.
According to the manufacturing method, the coating process is further defined, which is beneficial to obtaining a high-quality catalyst layer coating, and further improves the performance, the service life and the consistency of the membrane electrode.
When the coating process is a spraying method, the parameters of the slurry are preferably that the viscosity is less than 100mPas, the solid content of the slurry is less than 5 percent, and the solvent in the components of the slurry comprises one or more than two of water, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, n-propanol, isopropanol and ethanol; the optimized technological parameters are that the single spraying amount of the catalyst is 0.025-0.25mgcm-2The spraying times are two or more than three.
According to the manufacturing method, when the coating process is a spraying method, optimized research is carried out on slurry parameters and process parameters, so that the quality of the spraying process is further improved, the generation of cracks of the catalyst layer is avoided, an excellent interface of the catalyst layer and the microporous layer is constructed, the operability of the spraying process is better, and the performance, the service life and the consistency of the membrane electrode are further improved.
When the coating process is a coating method or a screen printing method, the parameters of the slurry are preferably in the viscosity range of 800-5000mPas, the solid content of the slurry is 5-50%, and the solvent adopted by the components of the slurry comprises one or more than two of water, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, n-propanol, isopropanol and ethanol; the preferable technological parameters are that the single application amount of the catalyst is 0.1-8mgcm-2The number of coating times is one or more than two.
According to the manufacturing method, when the coating process is a coating method or a screen printing method, the slurry parameters and the process parameters are optimized, the production efficiency is improved, and the excellent catalyst layer and microporous layer interface are constructed.
A more preferred embodiment of the slurry parameters is a viscosity range of 2000-4000mPas, no ionomer is included in the slurry components and the temperature of the slurry is 40-80 ℃. According to the manufacturing method, the further optimization of the viscosity of the slurry is beneficial to solving the problem of catalyst permeation, when the viscosity of the slurry is higher, the catalyst is not easy to permeate into the microporous layer of the gas diffusion layer, the catalyst utilization efficiency is higher, the leveling property of the slurry under the viscosity is better, and the catalytic layer quality is higher. When the catalyst layer does not contain ionomer, void structures can be formed in the catalyst layer, the void structures can be partially used as a channel for high-speed gas transmission during reaction, and part of the void structures can be partially filled with electrolyte in the next procedure, so that the formation of an ion conductive network is facilitated, and the electrode performance is improved. The adjustment of the slurry temperature helps to obtain a high-quality catalyst layer without containing ionomer in the slurry, and the higher slurry temperature can inhibit the stress imbalance phenomenon in the slurry drying process and reduce the proportion of large-size cracks formed on the catalyst layer.
Wherein the electrolyte in the step (b) is one of perfluorosulfonic acid resin emulsion, hot-melt extruded perfluorosulfonic acid resin, a mixture of phosphoric acid, polybenzimidazole and dimethylacetamide (the mass ratio is 1:0.01-1:1-50) and a phosphoric acid solution. According to the manufacturing method, the electrolyte in the step (b) is thinned, so that the manufacturing method can be applied to proton exchange membrane fuel cells and membrane electrodes of high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells.
Wherein the viscosity of the perfluorosulfonic acid resin emulsion is preferably in the range of 1000-5000 mPas.
According to the manufacturing method, the viscosity of the perfluorosulfonic acid resin emulsion is optimized, and within the viscosity range, a proton exchange membrane with higher quality is obtained, the probability of uneven coating of the proton exchange membrane is reduced, and the phenomenon of internal stringing is avoided.
Wherein the viscosity of the mixture of the phosphoric acid, the polybenzimidazole and the dimethylacetamide is preferably in the range of 1000-5000 mPas.
According to the preparation method, the viscosity of the mixture of the phosphoric acid, the polybenzimidazole and the dimethylacetamide is optimized, and in the viscosity range, a high-temperature proton exchange membrane with higher quality is obtained, the probability of uneven coating of the proton exchange membrane is reduced, and the phenomenon of inner string is avoided.
When the more preferable embodiment of the slurry parameter is the viscosity range of 2000-4000mPas, the slurry component does not contain ionomer, and the temperature of the slurry is 40-80 ℃, wherein the electrolyte in the step (b) is one of perfluorosulfonic acid resin emulsion, hot-melt extruded perfluorosulfonic acid resin, a mixture of phosphoric acid, polybenzimidazole and dimethylacetamide, and phosphoric acid solution, wherein the viscosity of the mixture of perfluorosulfonic acid resin emulsion, phosphoric acid, polybenzimidazole and dimethylacetamide is preferably in the range of 50-1000 mPas.
According to this production method, the viscosity of the electrolyte solution is preferably selected so that the electrolyte having the viscosity partially penetrates into the pores of the catalytic layer electrode, thereby contributing to the formation of the ionic conduction network of the catalytic layer and further improving the performance and life of the membrane electrode.
Wherein the support material in the step (c) is one of porous polytetrafluoroethylene, porous polyvinylidene fluoride, porous polyimide, porous polybenzimidazole, polyethylene terephthalate, porous polyethylene, perfluorosulfonic acid resin and polybenzimidazole.
According to the manufacturing method, the support materials are optimized, and have excellent stability, wherein the polyimide material and the polybenzimidazole material have excellent thermal stability and can meet the use requirement of the high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell.
Detailed Description
The following will further describe a method for manufacturing a fuel cell membrane electrode, and a fuel cell according to the present invention with reference to examples.
Example 1
A method for preparing a membrane electrode for a fuel cell, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) respectively coating cathode catalyst slurry and anode catalyst slurry on the surface of one side of a microporous layer of a flat-plate-shaped gas diffusion layer with the microporous layer, and drying to form a cathode gas diffusion electrode and an anode gas diffusion electrode;
(b) coating an electrolyte on the catalyst-side surface of the cathode gas diffusion electrode and/or the anode gas diffusion electrode obtained in the above (a);
(c) and (c) respectively placing the cathode gas diffusion electrode and the anode gas diffusion electrode obtained in the step (b) on two sides of a support material, wherein the electrolyte coating side surface of the cathode gas diffusion electrode or the anode gas diffusion electrode or the catalyst side surface faces the support material and is adhered with a flat support material into a whole to form a membrane electrode.
Comparative example 1
A method for preparing a membrane electrode for a fuel cell, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) respectively coating the cathode catalyst slurry and the anode catalyst slurry on a gas diffusion layer with a microporous layer, and drying to form a cathode gas diffusion electrode and an anode gas diffusion electrode;
(b) and (c) integrally bonding the gas diffusion electrode obtained in the step (a) and an electrolyte membrane to form a membrane electrode.
Comparative example 2
A method for preparing a membrane electrode for a fuel cell, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) respectively coating the cathode catalyst slurry and the anode catalyst slurry on a proton exchange membrane to obtain a CCM electrode;
(b) and (c) bonding the CCM electrode obtained in the step (a) and the gas diffusion layer into a whole to form a membrane electrode.
Using the same electrolyte, catalyst slurry and gas diffusion layer, wherein the electrolyte is perfluorosulfonic acid resin; the catalyst slurry is Pt/C (Pt content is 50 wt.%), the catalyst is dispersed in a mixed solvent of propanol and water (mass ratio is 1:1), the ionomer is perfluorosulfonic acid resin (mass ratio to Pt/C is 1: 2), and the total solid content is 15%; the gas diffusion layer is carbon fiber paper. The raw materials, process parameters and equipment used by the membrane electrode are ensured to be the same as possible, no less than 100 membrane electrodes are prepared, the performances of the membrane electrodes are compared, and the results are shown in the following table:
process for the preparation of a coating
|
Performance of
|
Life span
|
Production efficiency
|
Probability of inner string failure
|
Example 1
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
0%
|
Comparative example 1
|
57%
|
78%
|
112%
|
3%
|
Comparative example 2
|
98%
|
93%
|
83%
|
1% |
As can be seen from the above comparison results, example 1 has a better technical advantage.
Example 2
The method of preparing a membrane electrode according to example 1, wherein the coating process in the step (a) is a spray coating method.
Example 3
The method of preparing a membrane electrode according to embodiment 1, wherein the coating process in the step (a) is a coating method.
Example 4
The method of preparing a membrane electrode according to embodiment 1, wherein the coating process in the process (a) is a screen printing method.
Example 5
The method for preparing a membrane electrode according to example 1, wherein the coating process in the step (a) is a spraying method and then a coating method.
Example 6
The membrane electrode preparation method as described in example 2, the slurry viscosity was 90mPas, the slurry solid content was 4.7%, the solvent used in the slurry components contained three types of water, ethylene glycol, n-propanol, the mass ratio was 1:1.2: 1; the optimized technological parameters are that the single spraying amount of the catalyst is 0.1mgcm-2The number of spraying was 5. The process parameters can be used to obtain the best orthogonality between electrode performance and cost, and production efficiency when the parameters are modulated in the method described in embodiment 2.
Example 7
The membrane electrode preparation method of example 3, slurry viscosity was 5000mPas, slurry solid content was 50%, slurry components contained three kinds of water, ethylene glycol, n-propanol, mass ratio was 1:1.2: 1; preferred process parameters are a single application of 0.13mgcm of catalyst-2The number of coating times was 2.
Example 8
The membrane electrode preparation method of example 3, slurry viscosity was 3000mPas, slurry solid content was 24%, slurry components contained three kinds of water, ethylene glycol, n-propanol, mass ratio was 1:1.2: 1; preferred process parameters are a single application of 0.13mgcm of catalyst-2The number of coating times was 2. The process parameters can be used to obtain the best orthogonality between electrode performance and cost, and production efficiency when the parameters are modulated in the method described in embodiment 3.
Example 9
The membrane electrode preparation process of example 8, wherein the slurry composition did not contain ionomer and the slurry temperature was 60 ℃. The comprehensive indexes of the membrane electrode performance, consistency and cost prepared by the process parameters are further improved compared with those of the embodiment 8.
Example 10
The method of preparing a membrane electrode according to embodiment 1, wherein the electrolyte in the step (b) is a hot-melt extruded perfluorosulfonic acid resin.
Example 11
The method of making a membrane electrode of example 1 wherein said electrolyte is perfluorosulfonic acid resin emulsion having a viscosity of 2578 mPas.
Example 12
The method for preparing a membrane electrode according to claim 1, wherein the electrolyte is a mixture of phosphoric acid, polybenzimidazole and dimethylacetamide and has a viscosity of 3452 mPas.
Example 13
The method of preparing a membrane electrode according to example 9, wherein the electrolyte in the step (b) is a perfluorosulfonic acid resin emulsion having a viscosity of 117 mPas.
Example 14
The method of preparing a membrane electrode according to example 1, wherein the support material in step (c) is porous polytetrafluoroethylene.
Example 15
The method of preparing a membrane electrode according to example 1, wherein the support material in step (c) is porous polybenzimidazole.
In addition, other modifications within the spirit of the invention will occur to those skilled in the art, and it is understood that such modifications are included within the scope of the invention as claimed.