Advanced catalyst layer design for PEM fuel cells

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Fuel cells and the hydrogen energy pathway can lead to significant societal benefits, improving the quality of life, health and the environment. Fuel cells are already being used in a number of early market applications (e.g., materials handling, uninterrupted power supply, residential co-generation, personal device applications, etc) with many other applications at the advanced demonstration stage. Improvements in PEM fuel cell performance will require new design concepts for creation of an efficient catalyst layer. This project is focused on the manufacturing of thin metal catalyst layers on polymer electrolyte membranes using an electroless plating method in conjunction with different templating techniques. The main benefit of this project is the development of a cost effective method to fabricate highly active catalyst-coated membranes (CCMs) for PEM fuel cells. Cost reduction is one crucial aspect of PEM fuel cell manufacturing in addition to the creation of a highly active CCM. This project proposes a simple approach towards the creation of low loading highly active catalyst layer that will result in improved batch to batch reproducibility also providing an entrance point for the development of high volume manufacturing procedures.