The present invention provides a method of preparing a catalyst material, said catalyst material comprising a support material and an electrocatalyst dispersed on the support material: said method comprising the steps: i) providing a support material; then ii) 10 depositing a silicon oxide precursor on the support material; then iii) carrying out a heat treatment step to convert the silicon oxide precursor to silicon oxide; then iv) depositing said electrocatalyst or a precursor of said electrocatalyst on the support material; then v) removal of at least some of the silicon oxide.

Disclosed are a method of manufacturing a carbon support for a fuel cell catalyst, a carbon support for a fuel cell catalyst manufactured according to the method, and a catalyst for a fuel cell including the same. The method may include using various organic materials containing N and various carbon supports and thus provide excellent economic feasibility. In addition, pyridinic N and pyrrolic N of doped N can be adjusted at an optimal content ratio so that the carbon support for a fuel cell catalyst manufactured and the catalyst for a fuel cell including the same have excellent electrochemical resistance and excellent electrochemical characteristic due to an increase in an electrochemically active surface area, and excellent durability due to an increase in thermal durability.

A membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) including a membrane and two electrodes, and further at least one layer located at the interface of the membrane and of an electrode. The layer contains a proton conductive polymer which has a glass transition temperature lower than or equal to, advantageously lower than, that of the proton conductive polymer contained in the membrane.

The invention discloses a catalyst coated membrane and preparation method thereof, membrane electrode and fuel cell. The above preparation method includes: firstly, adding sodium type resin to an aqueous-alcohol dispersion of Pt/C catalyst, and stirring and dispersing to obtain a catalyst slurry; secondly, coating the catalyst slurry onto a PTFE membrane, drying at room temperature, and then transferring to an sintering box for heat treatment to obtain a catalyst coated PTFE membrane; thirdly, preparing a proton membrane with catalyst transfer layer by thermocompression transfer of the catalyst coated PTFE membrane and a proton exchange membrane; finally, protonating the proton membrane with catalyst transfer layer to obtain a catalyst coated membrane. The present invention utilizes the great thermal stability of sodium type resin to enhance the crystallization degree of Nafion-H in the catalyst coated membrane through heat treatment, thereby improving the resistance to free radical oxidation and corrosion.

A membrane-electrode assembly for a fuel cell of the present invention includes an anode and a cathode facing each other, and a polymer electrolyte membrane interposed therebetween. At least one of the anode and the cathode includes a catalyst layer and an electrode substrate. The catalyst layer includes a catalyst and a porous ionomer. The polymer electrolyte membrane contacts one side of the catalyst layer and the electrode substrate contacts the other side of the catalyst layer.

A membrane electrode assembly (MEA) includes an ionically-conductive proton exchange membrane, an anode contacting a first side of the membrane and a cathode contacting a second side of the membrane and including third catalyst particles and a cathode GDL. The anode includes an anode gas diffusion layer (GDL), a first anode catalyst layer containing first catalyst particles, a hydrophobic polymer bonding agent, and a first ionomer bonding agent that lacks functional chains on a molecular backbone, and a second anode catalyst layer containing second catalyst particles and a second ionomer bonding agent that includes functional chains on a molecular backbone.

A method of manufacturing a membrane-electrode assembly includes: forming an electrolyte membrane containing an ionomer on a base material; applying an electrode slurry containing a catalyst, a binder, and a solvent to a first surface of the electrolyte membrane to form a structure including the electrolyte membrane and an electrode layer laminated on the first surface of the electrolyte membrane; and delaminating the structure from the base material.

The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a catalyst for a fuel cell which may not be poisoned by an ionomer. Specifically, the method includes: loading a catalyst on a support, coating a carbon layer having a predetermined thickness on the surface of the support, and exposing the catalyst to the outside by removing at least a part of the carbon layer.

A method for preparing a metal-carbon composite catalyst comprises the steps of: preparing a source material comprising a metal precursor and a monomer, which comprises a methylpyrrolidone (NMP); heat treating the source material so as to prepare an intermediate; and carbonizing the intermediate so as to prepare a carbon nanocatalyst in which the metal of the metal precursor is coupled to a carbon matrix structure, wherein, according to whether the source material comprises an organic additive, the type of organic additive, and the type of metal precursor, the carbon matrix structure has a carbon sheet structure and/or a carbon porous body structure, and the metal can be metal ions and/or metal particles. The metal-carbon composite catalyst can have high ORR and OER characteristics, and thus can be used as a cathode material for a zinc-air battery.

Ionomer membranes for fuel cells and related devices are described. An ionomer membrane may be configured with a plurality of anode-side protrusions and/or a plurality of cathode-side protrusions. A filler material(s) may be deposited into voids of an ionomer membrane. Example filler materials include, but are not limited to, platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), gold (Au), silver (Ag), iridium (Ir), etc., and their alloys on carbon supports.