The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a polymer electrolyte electrode for fuel cells that can improve performance of the electrode for fuel cells and the capability to transfer substances into the electrode by sequentially bringing two kinds of cation exchange resins into contact with catalysts, powderizing the same and incorporating a catalyst having a multilayer structure including a core and two or more layers of shells into the electrode for fuel cells, and an electrode manufactured by the method.

A process for manufacturing a catalytic electrode includes depositing an electrocatalytic ink on a carrier, wherein the electrocatalytic ink includes an electrocatalytic material and a product polymerizable into a protonically conductive polymer. The process also includes solidifying the electrocatalytic ink so as to form an electrode wherein the composition of the product polymerizable into a protonically conductive polymer and its proportion in the ink is defined so that the electrode formed has a breaking strength greater than 1 MPa. The process further includes separating the electrode formed from the carrier.

An object of the present invention is to provide, in the manufacture of a membrane-catalyst assembly including a polymer electrolyte membrane and a catalyst layer bonded to the polymer electrolyte membrane, a method that achieves both the relaxation of thermocompression bonding conditions and the improvement of adhesion between the catalyst layer and the electrolyte membrane with high productivity. A main object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a membrane-catalyst assembly including an electrolyte membrane and a catalyst layer bonded to the electrolyte membrane, the method including a liquid application step of applying a liquid to a surface of the catalyst layer before bonding, and a thermocompression bonding step of bonding, to the electrolyte membrane, the catalyst layer to which the liquid is applied by thermocompression bonding.

The present invention provides a method of preparing an electrocatalyst ink, the method comprising a step of contacting a dispersion with a separation material.

The present invention provides a sheet for thin layer transfer (10) including: a substrate (1) including a thin metal film or a thin heat-resistant resin film; and a fluorine resin layer (2) provided on at least one side of the substrate (1). The sheet for thin layer transfer thus provided can have reduced surface irregularities and be less prone to deteriorate even when subjected to repeated thermal transfer by thermocompression bonding.

A technique for producing a membrane electrode assembly with high quality is provided. In a method for producing a membrane electrode assembly, a first catalyst layer of a first catalyst layer sheet is bonded to a surface of an electrolyte film on which an electrolyte film base sheet is not formed. A first catalyst layer base sheet is separated from the first catalyst layer. The electrolyte film base sheet has been separated from the electrolyte film. A second catalyst layer of a second catalyst layer sheet is bonded to a surface of the electrolyte film from which the electrolyte film base sheet has been separated. The method for producing a membrane electrode assembly further includes a preliminary step of bonding either the second catalyst layer formed on the second catalyst layer base sheet or the second catalyst layer base sheet to a portion of the electrolyte film that has been fed prior to a position at which bonding of the first catalyst layer starts.

An electrode catalyst ink composition which includes metal oxide-based electrode catalyst particles, an electrolyte, and a mixed liquid medium, wherein the mixed liquid medium contains 40 to 85% by mass of water; 5 to 30% by mass of an aqueous solvent (A) that has an evaporation rate of 2.0 or lower when the evaporation rate of water at 25 C. is 1, and a solubility parameter (SP value) of not less than 9; and 10 to 30% by mass of a monoalcohol (B) that has an evaporation rate of higher than 2.0 when the evaporation rate of water at 25 C. is 1, and not more than 3 carbon atoms, provided that the total amount of the mixed liquid medium is 100% by mass.

A membrane electrode assembly includes an electrolyte membrane stacked between different electrodes, wherein an ionomer layer of the electrolyte membrane comprises an adjacent electrode, a first layer having at least a same cross-sectional area as that of the adjacent electrode, a reinforcing layer and a second layer stacked at a side of the first layer, the second layer having at least the same cross-sectional area as that of the reinforcing layer.

A sheet having undergone the process of applying catalyst ink onto at least part of a surface of a transported sheet to a predetermined thickness is dried so that a solvent evaporating from the catalyst ink is recovered, and the sheet having undergone the process of transferring a catalyst layer formed on the transported sheet after the solvent evaporates onto another member so that the catalyst layer is removed is cleaned by using the recovered solvent as cleaning liquid so that at least part of the residue of at least the catalyst ink left on the sheet is removed. The thus cleaned transported sheet, when the usage count thereof is smaller than or equal to a quality assurance count, is reused in the application of the catalyst ink. As a result, in the manufacture of the catalyst layer using the catalyst ink, the amount of emission toward the outside is reduced.

The presented invention relates to a cell assembly (100) for the controlled guiding of reactive fluids, wherein: the cell assembly (100) comprises a membrane (101), which has a first side and a second side opposite from the first side; on each of the first side and the second side, a catalyst layer (103) and a microporous layer (105) are disposed; the microporous layer (105) and/or the catalyst layer (103) of at least one side is profiled in such a way that the surface roughness of the catalyst layer (103) differs from the surface roughness of the microporous layer (105), so that the catalyst layer (103) and the microporous layer (105) fit together in parts.