Multilayer additive manufacturing of catalyst-coated membranes for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells by inkjet printing

Inkjet printing is a versatile, contactless and accurate material deposition technology. The present work is focused on developing innovative strategies for inkjet printing of CatalystCoated Membranes (CCM) by performing Additive Manufacturing (AM) applied to Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC), without resorting to intermediate substrates. Three different approaches for AM are presented and discussed: a) inkjet-printing of the membrane ionomer layer , the top catalyst layer; b) inkjet-printing of both catalyst layers onto a membrane; c) inkjet-printing of the ionomer layer as well as the catalyst layers onto the reinforcement layer of the membrane. The produced catalyst and membrane layers were characterized and proved uniform in terms of catalyst loading (0.2-0.4 and 0.08 mgPt cm(-2) for cathode and anode, respectively), ionomer distribution and thick-ness homogeneity (4 mu m for catalyst layers). The fully inkjet-printed CCM outperformed conventionally made assemblies in electrochemical-performance testing, even reaching 15% higher power density. (C) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC.

Automated summary

This study focuses on developing innovative strategies for inkjet printing of Catalyst Coated Membranes (CCM) without using intermediate substrates to enhance the performance of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC). By utilizing three different inkjet printing approaches, the catalyst and membrane layers achieved uniformity and demonstrated better electrochemical performance compared to conventionally made assemblies.