An innovative fuel cell system with membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) includes a polymer electrolyte membrane, a gas diffusion layer (GDL) made of porous metal foam, and a catalyst layer. A fuel cell has a metal foam layer that improves efficiency and lifetime of the conventional gas diffusion layer, which consists of both gas diffusion barrier (GDB) and microporous layer (MPL). This metal foam GDL enables consistent maintenance of the suitable structure and even distribution of pores during the operation. Due to the combination of mechanical and physical properties of metallic foam, the fuel cell is not deformed by external physical strain. Among many other processing methods of open-cell metal foams, ice-templating provides a cheap, easy processing route suitable for mass production. Furthermore, it provides well-aligned and long channel pores, which improve gas and water flow during the operation of the fuel cell.

The present disclosure relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a core-shell catalyst, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a core-shell catalyst, in which a particle in the form of a core-shell in which the metal nanoparticle is coated with platinum is manufactured by substituting copper and platinum through a method of manufacturing a metal nanoparticle by emitting a laser beam to a metal ingot, and providing a particular electric potential value, and as a result, it is possible to continuously produce nanoscale uniform core-shell catalysts in large quantities.

The present invention is directed to methods of making a nanofiber-nanoparticle network to be used as electrodes of fuel cells. The method comprises electrospinning a polymer-containing material on a substrate to form nanofibers and electrospraying a catalyst-containing material on the nanofibers on the same substrate. The nanofiber-nanoparticle network made by the methods is suitable for use as electrodes in fuel cells.

The solid oxide fuel cell includes a support of which a main component is a metal, an anode layer that is supported by the support, an electrolyte layer of solid oxide that is provided on the anode layer and has oxygen ion conductivity, a cathode layer that is provided on the electrolyte layer; and a porous layer of a metal that covers the cathode layer and a part of the electrolyte layer around the cathode.

Coatings on carbon are of interest to the battery, fuel cell, and catalyst industries. However, carbon is difficult to process because of its cohesiveness and low density. This invention describes a method for decreasing the interparticle forces between carbon particles so that the powder does not agglomerate as much during processing. This prevents the formation of hard agglomerates during gas phase processes such as Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) coating. The same method for decreasing agglomeration of the powder during processing may also improve the dispersion of deposited platinum onto carbon particles, either by ALD or other methods. A suspension of carbon particles coated with ionomer is also described.

A computational method for determining a location and an amount of a transition metal M in surface facets of a Pt—M alloy using a density functional theory includes receiving a particle size and a surface facet distribution of the Pt—M alloy and a total concentration of M in the Pt—M alloy; calculating a total number of M atoms in the Pt—M alloy based on the particle size and the surface facet distribution of the Pt—M alloy and the total concentration of M in the Pt—M alloy; and predicting a mixing energy between Pt and at least one of the total number of M atoms in a subsurface layer of each of the surface facets of the Pt—M alloy when Pt is mixed with the at least one of the total number of M atoms.

A fuel cell catalyst which has high power output characteristics and suppresses degradation of power generation performance due to starting, stopping or load variation; a manufacturing method thereof; a membrane electrode assembly for fuel cell; and a fuel cell including the same. The fuel cell catalyst includes at least catalytically active species and a carrier supporting the catalytically active species. The catalytically active species are at least one selected from the group consisting of platinum, a platinum alloy, and a core-shell catalyst in which a core of a metal different from platinum is coated with a shell containing platinum, the carrier is a carbon material, and at least one of the catalytically active species and the carrier contain(s) fluorine atoms.

Apparatuses and methods of measuring a hydrogen diffusivity of a metal structure including during operation of the metal structure, are provided. A hydrogen charging surface is provided at a first location on an external surface of the structure. In addition, a hydrogen oxidation surface is provided at a second location adjacent to the first location on the external surface of the structure. Hydrogen flux is generated and directed into the metal surface at the charging surface. At least a portion of the hydrogen flux generated by the charging surface is diverted back toward the surface. A transient of the diverted hydrogen fluxes measured, and this measurement is used to determine the hydrogen diffusivity of the metal structure in service.

The present invention relates to a flexible electrode, a biofuel cell using the same, and a method for manufacturing the same. The electrode according to the present invention comprises: a non-electrically conductive substrate (10); a base layer (20) disposed on the outer surface of the substrate (10); a nanoparticle layer (31) including metallic nanoparticles and disposed on the outer surface of the base layer (20); and a monomolecular layer (33) including a monomolecular material having an amine group and disposed on the outer surface of the nanoparticle layer (31).

The present invention relates to a flexible electrode, a biofuel cell using the same, and a method for manufacturing the same. The electrode according to the present invention comprises: a non-electrically conductive substrate (10); a base layer (20) disposed on the outer surface of the substrate (10); a nanoparticle layer (31) including metallic nanoparticles and disposed on the outer surface of the base layer (20); and a monomolecular layer (33) including a monomolecular material having an amine group and disposed on the outer surface of the nanoparticle layer (31).