Disclosed is a process for the manufacture of a catalyst-coated membrane-seal assembly, including: (i) providing a carrier material; (ii-i) forming a first layer, the first layer being formed by: (a) depositing a first catalyst component onto the carrier material such that the first catalyst component is deposited in discrete regions; (b) drying the first layer; (ii-ii) forming a second layer, the second layer being formed by: (a) depositing a first seal component, such that the first seal component provides a picture frame pattern having a continuous region and void regions, the continuous region including second seal component and the void regions being free from second seal component; (b) depositing a first ionomer component onto the first layer, such that the first ionomer component is deposited in discrete regions; and (c) drying the second layer.

The invention relates to a process for preparing nanoparticles of a catalyst for cathodic reduction and which is tolerant to methanol, these nanoparticles comprising a metallic center and a submonolayer of a chalcogen.

Provided are (i) a catalyst that has a core-shell structure and is highly active in an oxygen reduction reaction, which is a cathode reaction of a fuel cell, and (ii) a reaction acceleration method in which the catalyst is used. A core-shell catalyst for accelerating an oxygen reduction reaction, contains: silver or palladium as a core material; and platinum as a shell material, the core-shell catalyst having, on a surface thereof, a (110) surface of a face centered cubic lattice.

A method is provided for producing a platinum alloy-containing fuel cell electrode catalyst with high activity which is suited for its industrial mass-production. The method for producing a fuel cell electrode catalyst includes a step of preparing a dispersion in which particles of a fuel cell electrode catalyst precursor including a platinum alloy is dispersed in an electrolyte solution, and a step of alternately subjecting the dispersion to bubbling with an oxidizing gas and to bubbling with an inert gas or a reducing gas.

Methods and compositions for making fuel cell components are described. In one embodiment, the method comprises providing a substrate, and forming or adhering an electrode on the substrate, wherein the forming includes depositing an aqueous mixture comprising water, a water-insoluble component, a catalyst, and an ionomer. The water-insoluble component comprises a water-insoluble alcohol, a water-insoluble carboxylic acid, or a combination thereof. The use of such water-insoluble components results in a stable liquid medium with reduced reticulation upon drying, reduced dissolution of the substrate, and reduced penetration of the pores of the substrate.

There is provided a metal fine particle association suitably applied to an electrode catalyst to achieve even higher output leading to reduction in amount of the catalyst used, and a process for producing the same, that is, a metal fine particle association including a plurality of metal fine particles that have a mean particle diameter of 1 nm to 10 nm and are associated to form a single assembly, an association mixture including the metal fine particle association and a conductive support; a premix for forming an association, including metal fine particles, a metal fine particle dispersant made of a hyperbranched polymer, and a conductive support; and a method for producing the association mixture.

Provided is an interlayer for a thin electrolyte solid oxide cell, a thin electrolyte solid oxide cell including the same, and a method of forming the same. In various embodiments, functional elements (a fuel electrode, an electrolyte and a cathode) of the solid oxide cell are formed by means of a thin film process, and thus a nanostructure of the catalyst is not seriously lost due to agglomeration, different from a powder process. Thus, it is possible to accomplish catalyst activation according to a high specific surface area.

A binary alloy catalyst comprising platinum and tantalum, wherein the tantalum is present in the alloy at 15 to 50 atomic % and a phosphoric acid fuel cell comprising such a catalyst is disclosed. The catalyst provides a better CO tolerance.

A fuel cell oxidation reduction reaction catalyst includes a carbon powder substrate, an amorphous conductive metal oxide intermediate layer on the substrate, and a plurality of chained electrocatalyst particle strands bound to the layer to form an interconnected network film thereon having a thickness of up to 10 atom monolayers.

A method for forming a fuel cell catalyst includes a step of forming an ionomer-containing layer including carbon particles and an ionomer. Tungsten-nickel alloy particles are formed on the carbon particles. At least a portion of the nickel in the tungsten-nickel alloy particles is replaced with palladium to form palladium-coated particles. The palladium-coated particles include a palladium shell covering the tungsten-nickel alloy particles. The palladium-coated particles are coated with platinum to form an electrode layer including core shell catalysts distributed therein.