In an example, a process includes applying a platinum catalyst ink solution to a polymeric substrate to form a platinum-coated polymeric material having a first catalytic surface area. The process further includes utilizing a laser to process a portion of the platinum-coated polymeric material to form a patterned platinum-coated proton exchange membrane (PEM) material. The patterned platinum-coated PEM material has a second catalytic surface area that is greater than the first catalytic surface area.

A method of manufacturing a catalyst for a Pt.sub.xM.sub.y-based PEMFC, M being a transition metal, including the steps of: depositing Pt.sub.xM.sub.y nanostructures on a support; annealing the nanostructures; depositing a Pt.sub.xM.sub.y layer at the surface of the nanostructures thus formed; and chemically leaching metal M. It also aims at the catalyst obtained with this method.

Disclosed is a nanotubular intermetallic compound catalyst for a positive electrode of a lithium air battery and a method of preparing the same. In particular, a porous nanotubular intermetallic compound is simply prepared using electrospinning in which a dual nozzle is used, and, by using the same as a catalyst, a lithium air battery having enhanced discharge capacity, charge/discharge efficiency and lifespan is provided.

The present invention provides a substrate film that has a catalyst coating liquid having good coating properties when producing a membrane electrode assembly, has a catalyst layer and support film having good release properties after the catalyst layer is transferred to an electrolyte membrane using a catalyst transfer sheet, and does not contaminate the catalyst layer. Provided is a substrate film for a catalyst transfer sheet, said substrate film being formed by introducing fluorine atoms to at least one surface of a base film formed from one or more types of polymers selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene napthalate, polyphenylene sulfide, polysulfones, polyether ketone, polyether ether ketone, polyimides, polyetherimide, polyamides, polyamide-imides, polybenzimidazoles, polycarbonates, polyarylates, and polyvinyl chloride, wherein the ratio, measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, of the number of fluorine atoms/the number of carbon atoms in the surface to which the fluorine atoms are introduced, i.e. the modified surface, is 0.02-1.9, inclusive.

A catalysed ion-conducting membrane comprising an ion-conducting membrane, an electrocatalyst layer having two opposing faces, and a layer A comprising an ion-conducting material and a carbon containing material, and methods for preparing the catalysed ion-conducting membrane are provided.

A catalytic material includes (i) a support material and (ii) a thin film catalyst coating having an inner face adjacent to the support material and an outer face, the thin film catalyst coating having a mean thickness of 8 nm, and wherein at least 40% of the support material surface area is covered by the thin film catalyst coating; and wherein the thin film catalyst coating includes a first metal and one or more second metals, and wherein the atomic percentage of first metal in the thin film catalyst coating is not uniform through the thickness of the thin film catalyst coating.

Two active cell structures are prepared each comprising anode/electrolyte/cathode layers, each anode and cathode layer having embedded spaced-apart physical structures therein. Two interconnect sublayers are prepared, each comprising a layer of non-conductive material with holes formed therein and a conductor layer formed on one surface. The sublayers are placed together with the conductor layers in contact and with the holes offset to form an interconnect layer, which is then stacked between the two active cell structures. The multi-layer stack is laminated together and the anode layer of one active cell structure and the cathode layer of the other active cell structure fill the adjacent holes in the interconnect layer. The physical structures are pulled out to reveal embedded gas passages, and the multi-layer stack is sintered to form two active cells connected in series by the interconnect layer.

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.

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell membrane electrode assemblies (MEA's) are provided which have nanostructured thin film (NSTF) catalyst electrodes and additionally a sublayer of dispersed catalyst situated between the NSTF catalyst and the PEM of the MEA.

Novel catalytic materials and novel methods of preparing M-NC catalytic materials utilizing a sacrificial support approach and using inexpensive active polymers as the carbon and nitrogen source and readily available metal precursors are described.