Preparation method of membrane electrode, membrane electrode and proton exchange membrane fuel cell
Technical Field
The invention belongs to the technical field of fuel cells, and particularly relates to a membrane electrode and a preparation method thereof.
Background
The fuel cell is an energy conversion device which can directly convert chemical energy stored in fuel and oxidant into electric energy in an electrochemical reaction mode, and has the advantages of environmental friendliness, high energy density, high reliability and the like, and can be started quickly at room temperature. Fuel cells include Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs), Alkaline Fuel Cells (AFCs), Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells (MCFCs), Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cells (PAFCs), Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs), and the like. Compared with other fuel cells, the proton exchange membrane fuel cell has relatively low working temperature and is suitable for being used as an electric vehicle-mounted and portable power supply. The membrane electrode is the core component of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell, and determines the performance, the service life and the cost of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell. The membrane electrode comprises a catalyst layer, a diffusion layer and a proton exchange membrane, and provides continuous channels of protons, electrons, reaction gas and water for the electrochemical reaction of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell.
The method for preparing the membrane electrode also comprises a direct coating method besides the traditional spraying method and transfer method, wherein the direct coating method for preparing the CCM type membrane electrode is to directly coat the catalyst on two sides of the proton exchange membrane, and then hot press a cathode gas diffusion layer and an anode gas diffusion layer on two sides of the proton exchange membrane coated with the catalyst to prepare the membrane electrode. The membrane electrode prepared by the direct coating method has high automation degree, high efficiency and low manufacturing cost, and can meet the requirement of production expansion production.
When the membrane electrode is prepared by using a direct coating method, a cathode or anode catalyst layer is generally coated on one surface of a proton exchange membrane, however, a solvent in catalyst slurry can cause the proton exchange membrane to swell and wrinkle, and the catalyst layer is more difficult to coat on the other surface of the proton exchange membrane, so that the prepared membrane electrode has uneven surface and poor uniformity, the performance of the membrane electrode is also influenced, the loading amount of a Pt noble metal catalyst is reduced, and the cost of the membrane electrode is improved.
Disclosure of Invention
One of the objects of the present invention is: the preparation method of the membrane electrode can solve the problem that the catalyst is difficult to directly coat the second surface of the proton exchange membrane, has simple preparation process and can be used for industrial production.
In order to achieve the purpose, the invention adopts the following technical scheme:
a method of preparing a membrane electrode comprising the acts of:
coating first active substance catalyst slurry on one side of a proton exchange membrane, and drying to obtain a first active substance catalyst layer;
and step two, adsorbing one surface of the proton exchange membrane coated with the first active substance catalyst layer on a vacuum platform, and arranging a porous membrane between the proton exchange membrane and the vacuum platform.
And step three, coating second active substance catalyst slurry on the opposite side of the proton exchange membrane, and drying to obtain a second active substance catalyst layer.
And step four, attaching frames to the peripheries of the first active substance catalyst layer and the second active substance catalyst layer, and covering carbon paper on the surfaces of the first active substance catalyst layer and the second active substance catalyst layer.
As an improvement of the preparation method of the membrane electrode of the present invention, the specific operation of the second step is that the porous membrane is attached to the surface of the vacuum platform, the vacuum platform is connected to a vacuum pumping device, the surface of the proton exchange membrane coated with the first active material catalyst layer faces the porous membrane, and the vacuum pumping device is opened to make the surface of the proton exchange membrane coated with the first active material catalyst layer adsorbed on the vacuum platform through the porous membrane. The vacuum-pumping device comprises a vacuum pump and/or a compressor.
As an improvement of the preparation method of the membrane electrode of the present invention, the specific operation of the third step is that the vacuum platform and the proton exchange membrane dried in the first step are synchronously carried, a second active material catalyst slurry is coated on the opposite side of the proton exchange membrane, and the second active material catalyst layer is obtained by drying.
As an improvement of the preparation method of the membrane electrode of the present invention, the first active material catalyst slurry is a cathode catalyst slurry, and the second active material catalyst slurry is an anode catalyst slurry; or the first active material catalyst slurry is anode catalyst slurry, and the second active material catalyst slurry is cathode catalyst slurry. The thickness of the catalyst slurry is 0.5-15 mu m, the viscosity of the catalyst slurry is 1-500 mpa · s, and the solid content of the first active material catalyst slurry is 1-50%. The first active material catalyst paste includes at least a catalyst including at least one of platinum/carbon, platinum, and a transition metal, and a solvent including at least one of water, ethanol, propylene glycol, and isopropyl alcohol.
As an improvement of the preparation method of the membrane electrode, the proton exchange membrane is a perfluorosulfonic acid membrane or a polybenzimidazole membrane.
As an improvement of the preparation method of the membrane electrode, the carbon paper is subjected to hydrophobic treatment and porous treatment.
In the first step and the third step, the coating mode is extrusion coating, spray coating, doctor blade coating or gravure coating.
As an improvement of the preparation method of the membrane electrode, the material of the porous membrane is at least one of polyester, polyimide, polytetrafluoroethylene, polypropylene and polyethylene.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a membrane electrode prepared by the method described in any one of the preceding paragraphs, where the membrane electrode includes a proton exchange membrane, a first active material catalyst layer and a second active material catalyst layer disposed on two sides of the proton exchange membrane, a frame attached to the peripheries of the first active material catalyst layer and the second active material catalyst layer, and a carbon paper covering the surfaces of the first active material catalyst layer and the second active material catalyst layer.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a proton exchange membrane fuel cell including the membrane electrode as described above.
The beneficial effects of the invention include but are not limited to: according to the invention, after the first active substance catalyst slurry is coated on one side of the proton exchange membrane, one surface of the proton exchange membrane coated with the first active substance catalyst layer is adsorbed on the vacuum platform through the porous membrane, and the pressure difference is formed on two sides of the proton exchange membrane by utilizing the vacuum action. The invention can effectively solve the swelling problem caused by contacting with a solvent in the coating process of the proton exchange membrane, and the obtained membrane electrode has the advantages of smooth surface, high uniformity and excellent electrochemical performance.
Detailed Description
In order to make the technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to specific embodiments, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some, but not all embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.
Example 1
The embodiment provides a preparation method of a membrane electrode, which comprises the following operations:
coating first active substance catalyst slurry on one side of a proton exchange membrane, and drying to obtain a first active substance catalyst layer;
attaching the porous membrane to the surface of the vacuum platform, connecting the vacuum platform with a vacuumizing device, enabling the surface of the proton exchange membrane coated with the first active substance catalyst layer to face the porous membrane, and starting the vacuumizing device to enable the surface of the proton exchange membrane coated with the first active substance catalyst layer to be adsorbed on the vacuum platform through the porous membrane;
step three, the vacuum platform and the proton exchange membrane dried in the step one are synchronously carried, second active substance catalyst slurry is coated on one side opposite to the proton exchange membrane, and a second active substance catalyst layer is obtained after drying;
and step four, attaching frames to the peripheries of the first active substance catalyst layer and the second active substance catalyst layer, and covering the surfaces of the first active substance catalyst layer and the second active substance catalyst layer with carbon paper subjected to hydrophobic treatment and porous treatment.
Wherein the first active material catalyst slurry is a cathode catalyst slurry, and the second active material catalyst slurry is an anode catalyst slurry; the thickness of the catalyst slurry was 3 μm, the viscosity of the catalyst slurry was 250mpa · s, and the solid content of the first active material catalyst slurry was 25%; the first active material catalyst slurry includes a catalyst including platinum/carbon and a transition metal and a solvent including water and ethanol. The proton exchange membrane is a perfluorosulfonic acid membrane, vacuum adsorption is carried out under the condition that the vacuum degree is-0.05 MPa, the coating mode is extrusion coating, and the porous membrane is made of polytetrafluoroethylene.
Example 2
The embodiment provides a preparation method of a membrane electrode, which comprises the following operations:
coating first active substance catalyst slurry on one side of a proton exchange membrane, and drying to obtain a first active substance catalyst layer;
attaching the porous membrane to the surface of the vacuum platform, connecting the vacuum platform with a vacuumizing device, enabling the surface of the proton exchange membrane coated with the first active substance catalyst layer to face the porous membrane, and starting the vacuumizing device to enable the surface of the proton exchange membrane coated with the first active substance catalyst layer to be adsorbed on the vacuum platform through the porous membrane;
step three, the vacuum platform and the proton exchange membrane dried in the step one are synchronously carried, second active substance catalyst slurry is coated on one side opposite to the proton exchange membrane, and a second active substance catalyst layer is obtained after drying;
and step four, attaching frames to the peripheries of the first active substance catalyst layer and the second active substance catalyst layer, and covering the surfaces of the first active substance catalyst layer and the second active substance catalyst layer with carbon paper subjected to hydrophobic treatment and porous treatment.
Wherein the first active material catalyst slurry is an anode catalyst slurry, and the second active material catalyst slurry is a cathode catalyst slurry; the thickness of the catalyst slurry was 0.5 μm, the viscosity of the catalyst slurry was 500mpa · s, and the solid content of the first active material catalyst slurry was 50%; the first active material catalyst slurry includes a catalyst including platinum/carbon and a solvent including water and propylene glycol. The proton exchange membrane is a polybenzimidazole membrane, the vacuum adsorption is carried out under the condition that the vacuum degree is-0.1 MPa, the coating mode is spray coating, and the porous membrane is made of polypropylene and polyethylene.
Example 3
The embodiment provides a preparation method of a membrane electrode, which comprises the following operations:
coating first active substance catalyst slurry on one side of a proton exchange membrane, and drying to obtain a first active substance catalyst layer;
attaching the porous membrane to the surface of the vacuum platform, connecting the vacuum platform with a vacuumizing device, enabling the surface of the proton exchange membrane coated with the first active substance catalyst layer to face the porous membrane, and starting the vacuumizing device to enable the surface of the proton exchange membrane coated with the first active substance catalyst layer to be adsorbed on the vacuum platform through the porous membrane;
step three, the vacuum platform and the proton exchange membrane dried in the step one are synchronously carried, second active substance catalyst slurry is coated on one side opposite to the proton exchange membrane, and a second active substance catalyst layer is obtained after drying;
and step four, attaching frames to the peripheries of the first active substance catalyst layer and the second active substance catalyst layer, and covering the surfaces of the first active substance catalyst layer and the second active substance catalyst layer with carbon paper subjected to hydrophobic treatment and porous treatment.
Wherein the first active material catalyst slurry is a cathode catalyst slurry, and the second active material catalyst slurry is an anode catalyst slurry; the thickness of the catalyst slurry is 15 μm, the viscosity of the catalyst slurry is 1mpa · s, and the solid content of the first active material catalyst slurry is 1%; the first active material catalyst paste includes a catalyst including platinum and a transition metal and a solvent including ethanol and propylene glycol. The proton exchange membrane is a perfluorosulfonic acid membrane, the vacuum adsorption is carried out under the condition that the vacuum degree is-0.01 MPa, the coating mode is gravure coating, and the material of the porous membrane is polyimide.
Comparative example 1
The present comparative example provides a method of preparing a membrane electrode, comprising the operations of:
coating first active substance catalyst slurry on one side of a proton exchange membrane, and drying to obtain a first active substance catalyst layer;
and step two, coating the second active substance catalyst slurry on the opposite side of the proton exchange membrane, and drying to obtain a second active substance catalyst layer.
And step three, attaching frames to the peripheries of the first active substance catalyst layer and the second active substance catalyst layer, and covering carbon paper on the surfaces of the first active substance catalyst layer and the second active substance catalyst layer.
The fuel cells prepared in examples 1 to 3 and comparative example 1 were subjected to the following performance tests:
(1) and (3) uniformity testing: XRF is adopted to test the uniformity of platinum loading in an anode catalyst layer in the membrane electrode, one point (7 points in total) is taken at intervals of 20cm in the length direction, 12 points are taken uniformly in the width direction, and the average value, the variance and the ratio of the variance to the average value are calculated.
(2) And (3) electrochemical performance testing: taking 50cm with equal length and width2The membrane electrode prepared in example 1-3 has a cathode pressure at 75 deg.CUnder the conditions of 70KPa of force and 80KPa of anode pressure, the current density is respectively tested to be 1A/cm2And 1.5A/cm2Voltages under conditions V1 and V2.
The test results are shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1
|
Variance (variance)
|
Mean value of
|
Variance/mean
|
V1(V)
|
V2(V)
|
Example 1
|
0.35
|
12.3
|
0.028
|
0.718
|
0.662
|
Example 2
|
0.24
|
13.4
|
0.018
|
0.709
|
0.648
|
Example 3
|
0.28
|
12.5
|
0.022
|
0.702
|
0.632
|
Comparative example 1
|
5.6
|
13.1
|
0.427
|
0.654
|
0.564 |
As can be seen from table 1, the membrane electrode obtained in comparative example 1 is inferior to those obtained in examples 1 to 3 in uniformity and electrochemical performance, because comparative example 1 does not undergo porous membrane vacuum adsorption, and when the second active material catalyst layer is coated, the proton exchange membrane swells seriously and the coating uniformity is poor.
In summary, after the first active material catalyst slurry is coated on one side of the proton exchange membrane, the surface of the proton exchange membrane coated with the first active material catalyst layer is adsorbed on the vacuum platform through the porous membrane, and the pressure difference is formed on the two sides of the proton exchange membrane by utilizing the vacuum action. The invention can effectively solve the swelling problem caused by contacting with a solvent in the coating process of the proton exchange membrane, and the obtained membrane electrode has the advantages of smooth surface, high uniformity and excellent electrochemical performance.
Variations and modifications to the above-described embodiments may also occur to those skilled in the art, which fall within the scope of the invention as disclosed and taught herein. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and any obvious improvement, replacement or modification made by those skilled in the art based on the present invention is within the protection scope of the present invention. Furthermore, although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.