KR20170036213A - Electrode for fuel cell and method of fabricating thereof and fuel cell having the electrode - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are an electrode for a fuel cell including a patterned nano-wire array, which has a catalyst attached on the surface thereof, a preparing method thereof, and a fuel cell having the electrode. Specifically, by attaching the catalyst on the surface of the patterned nano-wire array, the diffusion of liquid fuels into the catalyst can be effectively maximized, through a flow channel formed in the patterned nano-wire, thereby improving efficiency of the fuel cell.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to an electrode for a fuel cell, a method of manufacturing the electrode, and a fuel cell having the same. [0002]

The present invention relates to a fuel cell, and more particularly, to an electrode for a fuel cell including a patterned nanowire array having a catalyst on a surface having a core-shell structure, a method for manufacturing the electrode, and a fuel cell having the electrode .

Fuel cells are devices that directly convert chemical energy into electrical energy. Specifically, a fuel cell is a power source that supplies fuel to an anode and generates an electricity through an electrochemical oxidation / reduction reaction by supplying an oxidant to a cathode. The fuel cell is environmentally friendly, And it is being developed actively because it shows excellent energy efficiency.

In a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), which is mainly developed, a cathode and an anode, which are porous fuel electrodes, are disposed on both sides of a polymer electrolyte membrane, and a polymer membrane is located between the two electrodes . When hydrogen as a fuel is supplied to the cathode, hydrogen is decomposed into electrons and protons (hydrogen ions) by the catalyst layer disposed on the cathode. The decomposed protons move to the anode through the polymer membrane, Generate water. At this time, the electrons move to the anode through the external circuit to generate electricity. As described above, the polymer electrolyte fuel cell uses a polymer electrolyte and thus has low activation polarization and low mass transfer polarization, so that a high current density can be generated, and thus the cell efficiency is high. However, since the polymer electrolyte fuel cell uses hydrogen gas as a fuel, there is a risk of storage and transportation, and safety devices are essential, which limits the miniaturization of the battery.

To improve this, a liquid fuel type fuel cell using a liquid fuel of alcohols instead of hydrogen as a fuel has been developed. Typically, direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) use methanol directly as fuel, resulting in no fuel reformer or safety device, which makes fuel storage simpler and simpler than other fuel cells. It is easy to handle and miniaturize. However, since methanol supplied in a liquid form is supplied in a relatively bulk form as compared with conventional hydrogen gas, it is not effectively transferred to the inside of the nano-sized catalyst layer disposed on the electrode, There is a need for improvement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrode for a fuel cell capable of effectively diffusing a liquid fuel into a catalyst.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a patterned nanowire array disposed on a current collector, a catalyst attached to a surface of the patterned nanowire array, and a pattern formed between the patterns of the patterned nanowire array. And a flow channel formed in the fuel cell.

The patterned nanowire array may have a core-shell structure in which the nanowires are disposed and a catalyst is disposed on the surface of the nanowires.

The patterned nanowire array may include at least one selected from the group consisting of Ni, Fe, Zn, Mg, Sn, Si, Li, Cd, Ce, and oxides of these metals.

The patterned nanowire array may have a pattern width of 50 mu m to 350 mu m and an interval between the patterns may be in a range of 50 mu m to 150 mu m.

The catalyst may be at least one selected from the group consisting of Pt, Pd, Au, Ag, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Mo may be formed of at least one material selected from tungsten (W), ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), iridium (Ir), vanadium (V)

Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a method of fabricating a fuel cell electrode comprising forming a patterned nanowire array on a current collector and attaching a catalyst to the surface of the patterned nanowire array. Method can be provided.

The step of forming a patterned nanowire array on the current collector may include forming a patterned seed layer on the current collector, growing nanowires on the patterned seed layer to pattern Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > nanowire < / RTI > array.

The step of attaching the catalyst to the surface of the patterned nanowire array may be selected from physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, atomic layer deposition, electrochemical deposition, electroless chemical plating, dip coating and combinations thereof Or by using at least one of the methods described above.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plasma display panel comprising a first electrode, a second electrode disposed opposite to the first electrode, and an electrolyte membrane interposed between the first electrode and the second electrode, And at least one of the first and second electrodes is an electrode for a fuel cell including a patterned nanowire array having a catalyst on a surface thereof.

The fuel supplied to the fuel cell may be diffused into the catalyst through a flow channel formed between patterns of the patterned nanowire array of the electrodes for the fuel cell.

The present invention provides an electrode for a fuel cell comprising a patterned nanowire array with a catalyst on its surface, thereby effectively diffusing the liquid fuel (and electrolyte, etc.) into the catalyst through the flow channel formed between the patterns .

Further, the present invention can increase the surface area by enlarging the contact area between the catalyst and the fuel by disposing the catalyst on the surface of the patterned nanowire array.

Therefore, the fuel cell employing the fuel cell electrode of the present invention can increase the catalytic activity, thereby improving the current density and the performance of the battery.

However, the effects of the present invention are not limited to those mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

FIGS. 1A to 1D are schematic views for explaining a method of manufacturing an electrode for a fuel cell including a patterned nanowire array of a core-shell structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a schematic view showing the structure of a fuel cell according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is an SEM image and a TEM image of the patterns of the electrodes manufactured in Comparative Example 1 and Example 1 of the present invention.
4 is a chart showing X-ray diffraction (XRD) and XPS measurement results of the electrode for a fuel cell manufactured in Example 1 of the present invention.
5 is a graph showing electrical characteristics of electrodes manufactured in Comparative Example 1 and Example 1 of the present invention
6 is a graph showing an SEM image according to the pattern width of the electrode according to Example 1 of the present invention and electrical characteristics therefor.
7 is a graph showing electrical characteristics of a fuel cell including the electrode for a fuel cell according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. Rather, the intention is not to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but rather, the invention includes all modifications, equivalents and substitutions that are consistent with the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims.

In the drawings, the thicknesses of the layers and regions may be exaggerated or reduced for clarity. Like reference numerals throughout the specification denote like elements.

One aspect of the present invention provides a method of fabricating a patterned nanowire array, the patterned nanowire array comprising a patterned nanowire array disposed on a current collector, a catalyst attached to a surface of the patterned nanowire array, The electrode for a fuel cell according to the present invention can be provided. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing an electrode for a fuel cell, comprising the steps of: forming a patterned nanowire array on a current collector; And attaching the catalyst to the surface of the nanowire array. Specifically, the step of forming the patterned nanowire array includes forming a patterned seed layer on the current collector, and growing a nanowire on the patterned seed layer to form a patterned nano- And forming a wire array.

FIGS. 1A to 1D are schematic views for explaining a method of manufacturing an electrode for a fuel cell including a patterned nanowire array of a core-shell structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1A, a patterned seed layer 50 may be formed on the current collector 100. The current collector 100 serves as a substrate of the nanowire array for directly growing the patterned nanowire array. The current collector 100 may be formed of a conductive material, a metal such as a thin foil or a carbon fiber paper May be a porous conductive support, but it is not limited thereto since it can be variously applied according to the embodiment. Specifically, for example, the current collector 100 may be formed of at least one material selected from the group consisting of stainless, gold (Au), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), titanium (Ti) At least one conductive polymer or carbon fiber paper selected from polyacetylene, polyaniline, polypyrole, and polythiophene may be used.

In order to form the patterned seed layer 50 on the current collector 100, photolithography is first performed on the current collector to form a patterned mask pattern (not shown) , A seed layer (not shown) may be formed on the current collector 100 on which the mask pattern is disposed. Thereafter, when the patterned mask pattern is removed, a patterned seed layer 50 is formed on the current collector 100 while a part of the seed layer disposed on the mask pattern is removed together .

The seed layer is formed for growth of the nanowire array. The seed layer may be formed to have a thickness of 5 nm to 10 nm in order to realize a proper diameter of the nanowire, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The seed layer may vary depending on the constituent material of the nanowire to be grown on the seed layer and may be selected from the group consisting of Au, Ag, Pt, Cu, Al, , Iron (Fe), tin (Sn), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr) and cobalt (Co) may be used. The seed layer may be formed on the current collector 100 by an electron-beam evaporation method, a sputtering method, an atomic layer deposition (ALD) method, or a chemical vapor deposition deposition, and CVD) may be used.

The patterned nanowire array 200 may then be formed on the patterned seed layer 50, as shown in FIG. 1B. That is, when nanowires are grown on the patterned seed layer 50, nanowires are selectively formed only in the regions where the patterned seed layer 50 is formed on the current collector 100, A patterned nanowire array 200 may be formed in a patterned pattern of the patterned seed layer 50.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the step of forming the patterned nanowire array 200 on the patterned seed layer 50 may be by thermal chemical vapor deposition. The thermal chemical vapor deposition method is a method of thermally decomposing a deposition target gas to deposit the nanowire material. The nanowire material forming the patterned nanowire array 200 is heated to change the nanowire material into a vapor phase And then supplying the seed layer 50 to the patterned seed layer 50 to grow the patterned nanowire array 200 directly on the patterned seed layer 50. To this end, while supplying the nanowire material into the reactor in which the current collector 100 having the patterned seed layer 50 formed therein is placed, thermal energy in the range of 900 ° C. to 1000 ° C. is applied to the reactor for about 10 minutes to 30 minutes The nanowire may be grown, but the temperature range and time range may vary depending on the material of the nanowire.

The patterned nanowire array 200 may include at least one selected from the group consisting of Ni, Fe, Zn, Mg, Sn, Si, Li, Cd, , Selenium (Ce), and oxides thereof.

The patterned nanowire array 200 may have a circular, polygonal, stripe, or grid pattern shape according to an embodiment, and may include a plurality of nanowire groups of a plurality of nanowires May be arranged in the above-described pattern form.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the pattern width of the patterned nanowire array 200 may range from 50 mu m to 350 mu m, and the spacing between the patterns may range from 50 mu m to 150 mu m. The pattern width of the patterned nanowire array 200 may be a width (size) of a group of nanowires made up of a plurality of nanowires, and an interval between the patterns means a distance between the groups of nanowires can do. The pattern width of the patterned nanowire array 200 and the spacing between the patterns can realize the optimized cell efficiency within the range. Specifically, this can be explained in detail in the following embodiments and drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1C, a step of attaching a catalyst 230 to the surface of the patterned nanowire array 200 may be performed to form a patterned nanowire array 250 with a catalyst on its surface have. The catalyst 230 may act to activate an electrochemical oxidation / reduction reaction of the fuel and / or oxidant supplied to the electrode. Specifically, the catalyst 230 may be formed of at least one selected from the group consisting of Pt, Pd, Au, Ag, Fe, Co, Ni, May be formed of at least one material selected from the group consisting of Cr, Mo, W, Ru, Rh, Ir, Vanadium and alloys thereof. have. The deposition of the catalyst 230 on the surface of the patterned nanowire array 200 can be accomplished by various methods such as physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, atomic layer deposition, electrochemical deposition, electroless chemical plating, And a combination of these.

As shown in FIG. 1D, the electrode for a fuel cell of the present invention manufactured by the above-described manufacturing method has the nanowires constituting the patterned nanowire array 250 disposed therein, and the patterned nanowire array 250 may have a core-shell structure in which a catalyst 230 is disposed. Due to such a structural feature, electrons generated by the catalyst activated by the fuel contacted with the catalyst can be rapidly transferred to an external circuit through nanowires grown directly on the current collector, thereby improving battery efficiency.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 1d, the electrode for a fuel cell of the present invention has a patterned nanowire array in which nanowire groups composed of a plurality of nanowires are patterned with a predetermined pattern width and a predetermined pattern interval, So that a flow channel in which the nanowire groups are spaced apart from each other can be formed between the patterns of the patterned nanowires. The channel size (area) of the flow channel can be changed according to the pattern shape, the pattern width, and the interval between the patterns when the patterned nanowires are formed. When the electrode for a fuel cell according to the present invention is applied to a fuel cell, as shown in FIG. 1d, liquid fuel in contact with the electrode can move along the flow channel, and the catalyst disposed inside the patterned nanowire array As shown in FIG. Accordingly, as the activity of the catalyst is increased, the electrochemical oxidation activity is improved, the current density of the fuel cell is increased, and the battery performance can be improved.

In addition, since the patterned nanowire array having conductivity is directly connected to the current collector, it can contribute to enhancement of the charge transport property. In addition, the large surface area of the patterned nanowire arrays can further increase the utility of the noble metal catalyst, and nanowires made of metal oxides can contribute to supply the oxidized material used for the oxidation reaction.

Another aspect of the present invention can provide a fuel cell including an electrode for a fuel cell including the patterned nanowire having a catalyst attached on the surface. Specifically, the fuel cell includes a first electrode, a second electrode disposed opposite to the first electrode, and an electrolyte membrane interposed between the first electrode and the second electrode, At least one of the two electrodes may be an electrode for a fuel cell including a patterned nanowire array having a catalyst on its surface.

2 is a schematic view showing the structure of a fuel cell according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, the fuel cell includes a first electrode 351 including a patterned nanowire array having a catalyst on its surface, a second electrode 352 disposed opposite to the first electrode 351, And a membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) having an electrolyte membrane 400 disposed between the first electrode 351 and the second electrode 352. Specifically, the first electrode 351 may be an electrode for a fuel cell including a patterned nanowire array 251 on which a catalyst is attached to a surface disposed on the current collector 151 of the present invention. The second electrode 352 may be an electrode for a fuel cell including a patterned nanowire array 252 having a catalyst attached to a surface disposed on the current collector 152 of the present invention. The shape of the fuel cell may be varied depending on the embodiment, and may be additionally provided with a separator or the like for forming a stack according to the configuration of the battery. In one embodiment of the present invention, the fuel cell may be a liquid fuel type fuel cell, and the liquid fuel may be alcohol or the like. The alcohols may be at least one selected from, for example, methanol, ethanol, ethylene glycol, and glycerol, but are not limited thereto. Specifically, the fuel cell may be a direct methanol type fuel cell.

The electrolyte membrane plays a role as a channel for transporting electrons as a proton and can use materials having excellent heat resistance and chemical stability and can adopt all the electrolyte membranes used in conventional liquid fuel type fuel cells, And is not particularly limited.

As described above, a fuel cell having an electrode for a fuel cell including a patterned nanowire array having a catalyst attached on the surface thereof according to the present invention is characterized in that the fuel cell includes a flow channel formed between patterns of the patterned nanowire array of the electrode The liquid fuel can be effectively diffused into the catalyst attached to the surface of the nanowire, and battery performance can be improved. Specifically, this can be explained in detail in the following examples and drawings.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

[Example]

≪ Example 1: Preparation of electrodes including patterned nanowires >

First, a gold (Au) seed pattern layer was formed on a stainless steel substrate by a photolithography process. Thereafter, a nanowire material in which tin oxide (SnO ₂ ) and graphite powder were mixed at a ratio of 2: 1 to prepare a SnO ₂ nanowire array on the gold seed pattern layer was prepared, System (tube furnace system), and heat of about 900 DEG C was applied for 10 minutes while supplying argon (Ar) gas of 100 sccm to the furnace. The furnace was then cooled to produce a patterned nanowire array on the current collector. At this time, the mask pattern used was a stripe pattern and a grid pattern, and the pattern width of the mask pattern was 50 mu m, 150 mu m, and 350 mu m, The interval between the patterns of the mask pattern was set to be 50 mu m.

A palladium (Pd) catalyst was then formed on the patterned SnO ₂ nanowire array using an NaBH ₄ reduction process. Specifically, the palladium (Pd) precursor solution was prepared by dissolving PdCl ₂ (0.0179 g) in a mixed solution of 20 mL of ultrapure water and 35 wt% of HCl and then dropping it on the substrate on which the patterned nanowire array was grown lt; / RTI > Thereafter, a reduction process using a 0.01 M NaBH ₄ solution was performed to prepare a palladium (Pd) / tin oxide (SnO ₂ ) nanowire array having a core-shell structure on a stainless steel substrate. In detail, the pattern of the electrode sample prepared in Example 1 is as shown in Table 1 below.

division Pattern A Pattern B Pattern C Pattern D Pattern width (탆) 350 150 150 50 Pattern spacing (탆) 50 50 50 50 Pattern type Stripe type Stripe type Grid type Grid type

≪ Comparative Example 1: Fabrication of electrode including non-patterned nanowire >

In the same manner as in Example 1 except for the step of patterning the seed layer on the current collector on which the nanowire is to be grown in the first embodiment, a plurality of non-patterned nanowires were formed on the current collector After that, a palladium catalyst was attached.

3 is an SEM image and a TEM image of the patterns of the electrodes manufactured in Comparative Example 1 and Example 1 of the present invention.

3 (c) to 3 (d) are grid patterns. Fig. 3 (e) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in Fig. 3 FIG. 3 (f) is a TEM image showing a nanowire array with a catalyst attached to the surface of the present invention. FIG. In each of the images, the dark region is the portion where the Pd / SnO ₂ nanowires are formed, and the bright region is the surface of the stainless steel substrate where the nanowires are not disposed. 3 (e) of Comparative Example 1 shows that the nanowire arrays are formed in the entire region because no pattern is formed, whereas FIGS. 3 (a) to 3 (d) A void space is formed in the spacing space between the patterns due to the array of nanowires. An empty space between these patterns can serve as a channel through which the liquid electrolyte can flow effectively.

4 (a) to 4 (b) are graphs showing X-ray diffraction (XRD) and XPS measurement results of the electrode for a fuel cell manufactured in Example 1 of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4 (a), it can be seen that the grown tin oxide nanowire array exhibits a tetragonal rutile phase with high crystallinity. In addition, the diffraction peaks of the Pd / SnO ₂ nanowire array with catalysts on the surface also show about 2? = 40 ° and 46 °, and it can be confirmed that they correspond to the Pd (111) and Pd (200) lattices. It can be confirmed that the sample prepared in Example 1 is present in a pure form through no observation of any other peak except for the Pd / SnO ₂ nanowire array and the stainless substrate. Further, in the upper graph of Fig. 4 (b), two large peaks are observed at 336.9 eV and 342.4 eV. This indicates a Pd (3d _5/2), and Pd (3d _3/2), respectively. In the lower diagram, and a peak is observed at 486.0eV and 494.4eV, which represents a Sn (3d _5/2) and Sn (3d _3/2). That is, it can be seen from FIG. 4 (a) to FIG. 4 (b) that a metal palladium (Pd) catalyst is well adhered to the nanowire array of the present invention.

5 is a graph showing electrical characteristics of electrodes manufactured in Comparative Examples 1 and 1 of the present invention. Specifically, this is shown in Table 2 below.

Ethanol oxidation Pd Pd mass (mg _-pd ) EASA
(cm ² mg ^-1 _-pd ) Onset potential
(V vs Hg / HgO) Current density (mAmg ^-1 _-pd ) Current density (mAcm ^-2 ) No pattern 0.18 66.53 -0.482 105.61 1.59 patterna 0.15 79.77 -0.512 139.18 1.77 pattern B 0.13 95.38 -0.527 173.16 1.82 pattern C 0.10 124.92 -0.567 268.38 2.15 pattern D 0.08 143.67 -0.582 380.99 2.65

FIG. 5 (a) shows a result of measurement using a 1.0 M NaOH aqueous solution. It can be seen that the cathodic peak was observed between -0.4 V and -0.1 V. FIG. This means the interaction of the palladium (Pd) catalyst with the oxygen species and the electrochemically active surface area (EASA) electrochemically active surface area of the palladium catalyst by coulombic charge of the cathodic peak EASA) can be measured. It can be seen that the patterned nanowire array having the catalyst on the surface of the present invention has a much larger value of EASA than that of the electrode of Comparative Example 1 which is not patterned. This means that the contact area of the electrode and the electrolyte is increased due to the increase of the flow channel in the nanowire array system in which the EASA value is patterned due to the patterned shape.

Figure 5 (b) also shows that two peaks appear between the front CV sweeps and the rear sweeps in a mixed solution of 1.0 M CH ₂ H ₅ OH and 1.0 M NaOH, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > of < / RTI > Specifically, the front peak current density contributes to the electrical oxidation of the ethanol molecules, and the backward peak current density represents the oxidation of the incompletely oxidized carbonaceous material remaining on the catalyst surface. In particular, the pattern D nanowires of Example 1 of the present invention exhibit the lowest onset potential, whereas the unpatterned nanowires of Comparative Example 1 exhibit the highest initiation potential. It can be seen from this that the patterned nanowire array with the catalyst attached to the surface of the present invention has a flow channel that can be oxidized with the ethanol reactant more easily than the conventional electrode, thereby increasing the activity of the catalyst.

Referring to FIG. 5 (c), it can be seen that the current density due to the electrical oxidation of ethanol is higher in the order of pattern D> pattern C> pattern B> pattern A> non-patterned Comparative Example 1 (no pattern). This is because the surface area exposed to the patterned nanowires is widened as the flow channel becomes dense and wider as the pattern D becomes, and the catalytic activity is greatly increased. Also, it can be confirmed that the electrode of the pattern D of Example 1 of the present invention maintains a high current density even though the electrochemical oxidation time of the ethanol molecule increases over time. It can be seen that the patterned nanowire arrays of the present invention have superior electrical oxidation performance and stability at the initiation potential.

FIG. 5 (d) is a graph showing the correlation of charges according to the scan rate for ethanol oxidation. It can be confirmed that the decrease tendency at a low scan rate is delayed in a nanowire array having many flow channels. These results indicate that the nanowire array patterned in Example 1 of the present invention has a patterned structural feature, while the electrical oxidation activity of Comparative Example 1, which includes an unpatterned nanowire array, is limited by reactant diffusion This is due to the effective mass transfer of the alcoholic reactant in liquid form around the catalyst.

6 (a) to 6 (f) are SEM images and electrical characteristics of the SEM image according to the pattern width of the electrode of the first embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 6 (a) to Fig. 6 (c) is a nanowire array formed by respective 50㎛ (pattern D _1), 150㎛ (pattern D ₂₎ and 300㎛ (pattern D ₃₎ the spacing between patterns. FIG. 6 (d) shows the pattern D ₁ To Pattern D ₃ of 1.0M NaOH as a measure of the electrical activity of the catalytic aeseo electrolytic solution, it can be confirmed that the value of the patterns D ₁ EASA unexpectedly higher than the pattern D _3. This is because the pattern width of the pattern D ₃ widens the number of nanowire groups composed of a plurality of nanowires due to the pattern width, and the amount of the catalyst attached to the nanowires also decreases sharply as a whole. Referring to Figure 6 (e), the current density of the pattern D ₂ to check that the increased approximately 8% higher than current density of the patterns D _1, the current density of the pattern D _3, on the other hand, 30 than the current density of the patterns D ₁ %, Respectively. This may be attributed to the reduction in patterned nanowires as the pattern width increases, as described above, thereby reducing the amount of electrically oxidizable catalyst attached to the nanowires. Referring to FIG. 6 (f), it can be seen that the mass transfer characteristics increase in the order of pattern D ₃ <pattern D ₁ <pattern D ₂ . This is similar to the electric oxidation activity tendency in accordance with the above-described pattern form. As a result, it can be seen that when the flow channel formed between the patterned nanowire arrays becomes larger than a certain range, it does not contribute to mass transfer of the electrolyte.

&Lt; Example 2: Fuel cell having electrode for fuel cell of Example 1 >

A fuel cell having an electrode for a fuel cell including the patterned nanowire array of the pattern D type prepared in Example 1 was manufactured.

&Lt; Comparative Example 2: Fuel cell with electrode of Comparative Example 1 >

A fuel cell was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 2 except that the electrode including the non-patterned nanowires prepared in Comparative Example 1 was used.

Fig. 7 is a chart showing electrical characteristics of the fuel cells of Comparative Example 2 and Example 2 of the present invention in comparison. Each fuel cell was supplied with methanol, ethanol, ethylene glycol, and glycerol as fuel and current was measured.

Referring to FIG. 7, the current of the fuel cell having the electrode including the non-patterned nanowire array of Comparative Example 2 is the same as that of the fuel with the electrode including the patterned nanowire array of Embodiment 2 of the present invention Which is significantly lower than that of the battery. This is because, as described above, the catalyst attached to the surface of the patterned nanowires of the present invention increases the catalytic activity as the contact area with the liquid fuel diffused through the flow channel formed between the nanowire patterns is widened . Thus, it can be seen that the fuel cell of the present invention exhibits a high current value irrespective of the kinds of various liquid fuels such as methanol, ethanol, ethylene glycol and glycerol.

It should be noted that the embodiments of the present invention disclosed in the present specification and drawings are only illustrative of specific examples for the purpose of understanding and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other modifications based on the technical idea of the present invention are possible in addition to the embodiments disclosed herein.

50: patterned seed layer 100, 151, 152: collector
200: patterned nanowire array 230: catalyst particle
250, 251, 252: a patterned nanowire array with a catalyst on its surface
310: a first electrode comprising patterned nanowires
410: separator 510: second electrode

Claims (10)

A patterned nanowire array disposed on the current collector;
A catalyst attached to the surface of the patterned nanowire array; And
And a flow channel formed between the patterns of the patterned nanowire array. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the patterned nanowire array comprises:
Wherein the nanowires are disposed inside,
And a core-shell structure in which a catalyst is disposed on a surface of the nanowire. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the patterned nanowire array comprises:
(Ni), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), magnesium (Mg), tin (Sn), silicon (Si), lithium (Li), cadmium (Cd), selenium Wherein the first electrode is formed of at least one material selected from the group consisting of a metal, a metal, and a metal. The method according to claim 1,
The pattern width of the patterned nanowire array ranges from 50 mu m to 350 mu m,
And the distance between the patterns is in the range of 50 탆 to 150 탆. The method according to claim 1,
The catalyst may be at least one selected from the group consisting of Pt, Pd, Au, Ag, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Wherein the first electrode is formed of at least one material selected from the group consisting of Mo, W, Ru, Rh, Ir, V and alloys thereof. Forming a patterned nanowire array on the current collector; And
And attaching a catalyst to the surface of the patterned nanowire array. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein forming the patterned nanowire array on the current collector comprises:
Forming a patterned seed layer on the current collector;
And growing nanowires on the patterned seed layer to form a patterned nanowire array. &Lt; Desc / Clms Page number 20 &gt; The method according to claim 6,
Wherein attaching a catalyst to a surface of the patterned nanowire array comprises:
Wherein the heat treatment is carried out by using at least one method selected from a physical vapor deposition method, a chemical vapor deposition method, an atomic layer deposition method, an electrochemical deposition method, an electroless chemical plating method, a dip coating method and a combination thereof. Gt; A first electrode;
A second electrode disposed opposite to the first electrode;
And an electrolyte membrane interposed between the first electrode and the second electrode,
Wherein at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode uses an electrode for a fuel cell including a patterned nanowire array having a catalyst on a surface thereof. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the fuel supplied to the fuel cell is diffused into the catalyst through a flow channel formed between the patterns of the patterned nanowire arrays of the electrodes for the fuel cell.

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