PNNL

Abstract

Utilizing drop-on-demand technology, we have successfully developed hydrogen-air polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) and have demonstrated their performance to be similar to conventionally fabricated systems. Prototype membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) were fabricated utilizing commercial desktop inkjet printers by depositing the active catalyst electrode layer directly from print cartridges onto a Nafion® polymer membrane. Preliminary results indicate open circuit voltages up to 0.84 V and power densities of 31 mW/cm2 as compared to 0.9 V and 42 mW/cm2 for commercial MEAs tested on our experimental test apparatus. The objective of this work is to demonstrate that drop-on-demand technology can be used to produce MEAs comparable in structure and performance to commercially available MEAs and to demonstrate that this approach provides highly controlled and repeatable automated processing that can result in improved precious metal catalyst efficiency, improved structural integrity and ultimately reduced PEMFC MEA materials and fabrication costs.