Abstract
Coating catalyst particles on carbon gas diffusion electrode (GDE) is a common application for fabricating membrane electrode assembly (MEA) where the catalyst layer is formed in between the microporous carbon electrode and the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM). In this study, we created micro-dimples on the surface of the GDE using laser-plasma to increase the open area of original pores, which leads to substantial enhancement in the electrochemical reaction. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of the surface processed carbon electrode shows that the electrode surface machining increases natural pore size up to ∼ 15 times and facilitates to accommodate most of the geometrically non-uniform Molybdenum disulfide catalyst particles. Electrochemical measurement results indicate that the micro-machined electrode with a dimple density of 0.16 cm2dimple/cm2electrode enhances the electrochemical reaction by 21%. Our PEM electrolysis tests also reveal that the current density can be increased up to 64% using MEA manufactured through the hot-pressing process along with the micro-machining technique. This study opens up the route for improving the performance of MEA in various potential applications such as water electrolysis and fuel cells.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call