The fabrication of integrated proton exchange membrane fuel cells: Excellent mechanical strength and electrochemical performance

Abstract

Traditional membrane electrode assembly, prepared by catalyst coated electrodes (CCE) and catalyst coated membrane (CCM), has a huge interface between electrodes and membranes, which affects the mechanical adhesion, proton/electron transfer and gas/liquid transport in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In this study, an integrated membrane electrode assembly (I-MEA) was fabricated by the casting and doctor blade methods for low- and high-temperature PEMFCs, respectively. The results show that the maximum power density of I-MEALT is improved around 18% and its stripping force increased from 6.091 N to 7.387 N. I-MEAHT reached 0.418 W/cm2, which is 1.5 times higher than that of traditional MEAHT. Meanwhile, it achieved the maximum stripping force of 9.374 N.