Spray Deposition Method Research Articles

Simple and rapid method for silver nanoparticles incorporation in polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) substrates

Due to its antimicrobial properties, silver has been used in many areas of medicine and today silver nanoparticles have been incorporated into different biomaterials. The objective of this study was to implement a simple method for the incorporation of silver nanoparticles in polymethyl methacrylate substrates, to determine their mechanical properties, antimicrobial functionality and the solubility of silver incorporated. Using this approach an antimicrobial material can be obtained; the surface of a commercial polymethyl methacrylate (Opti-cryl®) was impregnated with silver nanoparticles (AgNps) using a spray deposition method (0.03% by weight). The antimicrobial activity of the material was evaluated using the Japanese industrial standard (JIS Z 2801) against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Inductively coupled plasma optical spectrometry (ICP-OES) was used to measure the solubility of the incorporated silver nanoparticles. Mechanical tests of flexural strength were performed to observe changes in mechanical properties. The antimicrobial results show that PMMA / AgNps has significant antimicrobial activity, showing better results for Escherichia coli. ICP-OES analysis suggests low solubility in silver nanoparticles. Mechanical tests showed a 1.6% increase in flexural strength for PMMA added with silver nanoparticles. The method presented for incorporating silver nanoparticles into PMMA and producing an acrylic antimicrobial substrate is easy and has the advantage of improving its mechanical properties.

Synergistic Effect to High-Performance Perovskite Solar Cells with Reduced Hysteresis and Improved Stability by the Introduction of Na-Treated TiO2 and Spraying-Deposited CuI as Transport Layers.

For a typical perovskite solar cell (PKSC), both the electron transport layers (ETLs) and hole transport materials (HTMs) play a very important role in improving the device performance and long-term stability. In this paper, we firstly improve the electron transport properties by modification of TiO2 ETLs with Na species, and an enhanced power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 16.91% has been obtained with less hysteresis. Subsequently, an inorganic CuI film prepared by a facile spray deposition method has been employed to replace the conventional spiro-OMeTAD as the HTM in PKSCs. Because of the improved transport properties at the ETL/perovskite and perovskite/HTM interfaces, a maximum photovoltaic efficiency of 17.6% with reduced hysteresis has been achieved in the PKSC with both the Na-modified TiO2 ETL and 60 nm-thick CuI layer HTM. To our knowledge, the PCE achieved in this paper is one of the highest values ever reported for the PKSC devices with inorganic HTMs. More significantly, the PKSCs exhibit an outstanding device stability, their PCE remains constant after storage in the dark for 50 days, and they can retain approximately 92% of their initial efficiency after storage even for 90 days.

Surface modification of poly(vinylidene fluoride) hollow fibre membranes for biogas purification in a gas-liquid membrane contactor system.

The wetting of hollow fibre membranes decreases the performance of the liquid–gas membrane contactor for CO2 capture in biogas upgrading. To solve this problem, in this work, a poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) hollow fibre membrane for a liquid–gas membrane contactor was coated with a superhydrophobic layer composed of a combination of hydrophobic SiO2 nanoparticles and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) by the method of spray deposition. A rough layer of SiO2 deposited on the PVDF membrane resulted in an enhanced surface hydrophobicity. The surface structure of the pristine PVDF significantly affected the homogeneity of the generated SiO2 layer. A uniform surface coating on the PVDF upper layer resulted from the presence of micrometre and nanometre-sized roughness on the surface of the PVDF membrane, which was achieved with a SiO2 concentration of 4.44 mg ml−1 (0.2 g/45 ml) in the coating solution. As a result, the water contact angle of the modified surface was recorded as 155 ± 3°, which is higher than that of the pristine surface. The high contact angle is advantageous for reducing the wetting of the membrane. Additional mass transfer resistance was introduced by the superhydrophobic layer. In addition, continuous CO2 absorption tests were carried out in original and modified PVDF hollow fibre membrane contactors, using monoethanolamine (MEA) solution as the absorbent. A long-term stability test revealed that the modified PVDF hollow fibre membrane contactor was able to outperform the original membrane contactor and demonstrated outstanding long-term stability, suggesting that spray deposition is a promising approach to obtain superhydrophobic PVDF membranes for liquid–gas membrane absorption.

Lithium Titanate/Carbon Nanotubes Composites Processed by Ultrasound Irradiation as Anodes for Lithium Ion Batteries

In this work, lithium titanate nanoparticles (nLTO)/single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) composite electrodes are prepared by the combination of an ultrasound irradiation and ultrasonic spray deposition methods. It was found that a mass fraction of 15% carbon nanotubes optimizes the electrochemical performance of nLTO electrodes. These present capacities as high as 173, 130, 110 and 70 mAh.g−1 at 0.1C, 1C, 10C and 100C, respectively. Moreover, after 1000 cycles at 1C, the nLTO/SWCNT composites present a capacity loss of just 9% and a Coulombic efficiency of 99.8%. Therefore, the presented methodology might be extended to other suitable active materials in order to manufacture binder free electrodes with optimal energy storage capabilities.

Hot Deformation Behavior of a Spray-Deposited Al-8.31Zn-2.07Mg-2.46Cu-0.12Zr Alloy

Metallic materials have a significant number of applications, among which Al alloys have drawn people’s attention due to their low density and high strength. High-strength Al-based alloys, such as 7XXX Al alloys, contain many alloying elements and with high concentration, whose microstructures present casting voids, segregation, dendrites, etc. In this work, a spray deposition method was employed to fabricate an Al-8.31Zn-2.07Mg-2.46Cu-0.12Zr (wt %) alloy with fine structure. The hot deformation behavior of the studied alloy was investigated using a Gleeble 1500 thermal simulator and electron microscopes. The microstructure evolution, variation in the properties, and precipitation behavior were systematically investigated to explore a short process producing an alloy with high property values. The results revealed that the MgZn2 particles were detected from inside the grain and grain boundary, while some Al3Zr particles were inside the grain. An Arrhenius equation was employed to describe the relationship between the flow stress and the strain rate, and the established constitutive equation was that: ε ˙ = [ sinh ( 0.017 σ ) ] 4.049 exp [ 19.14 − ( 129.9 / R T ) ] . An appropriate hot extrusion temperature was determined to be 460 °C. Hot deformation (460 °C by 60%) + age treatment (120 °C) was optimized to shorten the processing method for the as-spray-deposited alloy, after which considerable properties were approached. The high strength was mainly attributed to the grain boundary strengthening and the precipitation strengthening from the nanoscale MgZn2 and Al3Zr precipitates.

Protective properties of Al2O3 + TiO2 coating produced by the electrostatic spray deposition method

Abstract Mechanical resistance of Al 2 O 3 + TiO 2 nanocomposite ceramic coating deposited by electrostatic spray deposition method onto X10CrAlSi18 steel to thermal and slurry tests was investigated. The coating was produced from colloidal suspension of TiO 2 nanoparticles dispersed in 3 wt% solution of Al 2 (NO 3 ) 3 , as Al 2 O 3 precursor, in ethanol. TiO 2 nanoparticles of two sizes, 15 nm and 32 nm, were used in the experiments. After deposition, coatings were annealed at various temperatures, 300, 1000 and 1200 °C, and next exposed to cyclic thermal and slurry tests. Regardless of annealing temperature and the size of TiO 2 nanoparticles, the outer layer of all coatings was porous. The first five thermal cycles caused a rapid increase of aluminum content of the surface layer to 30–37 wt%, but further increase in the number of thermal cycles did not affect the aluminum content. The oxidation rate of coating-substrate system was lower during the thermal tests than during annealing. The oxidation rate was also lower for smaller TiO 2 particles (15 nm) forming the coating than for the larger ones (32 nm). The protective properties of Al 2 O 3 + TiO 2 coating against intense oxidation of substrate were lost at 1200 °C. Slurry tests showed that coatings annealed at 1000 °C had the best slurry resistance, but thermal tests had weakened this slurry resistance, mainly due to decreasing adhesion of the coating.

Effect of tube processing methods on microstructure, mechanical properties and irradiation response of 14YWT nanostructured ferritic alloys

In this research, innovative thermal spray deposition (Process I) and conventional hot extrusion processing (Process II) methods have been used to produce thin walled tubing (∼0.5 mm wall thickness) out of 14YWT, a nanostructured ferritic alloy. The effects of processing methods on the microstructure, mechanical properties and irradiation response have been investigated by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and, micro- and nano-hardness techniques. It has been found that these two processes have a significant effect on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the as-fabricated 14YWT tubes. Even though both processing methods yield the formation of various size Y-Ti-O particles, the conventional hot extrusion method results in a microstructure with smaller, homogenously distributed nano-oxides (NOs, Y-Ti-O particles < 5 nm) with higher density. Therefore, Process II tubes exhibit twice the hardness of Process I tubes. It has also been found that these two tremendously different initial microstructures strongly affect irradiation response in these tubes under extremely high dose ion irradiations up to 1100 peak dpa at 450 °C. The finer, denser and homogenously distributed NOs in the Process II tube result in a reduction in swelling by two orders of magnitude. On the other hand, inhomogeneity of the initial microstructure in the Process I tube leads to large variations in both swelling and irradiation induced hardening. Moreover, hardening mechanisms before and after irradiation were measured and compared with detailed calculations. This study clearly indicates the crucial effect of initial microstructure on radiation response of 14YWT alloys.

Synthesis of MnO@multi-walled CNTs composite film electrodes for lithium-ion batteries by an improved electrostatic spray deposition method

MnO@multi-walled CNTs (MnO@MWCNTs) composite film electrodes with porous structure are synthesized by the improved electrostatic spray deposition (ESD) setup. The content of 5.47 wt% MWCNTs is found to be optimal, which can improve the conductivities of MnO film electrodes without destroying their porous structure and obtain good cycling performance (588 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 1 C) and high rate capabilities (424 mAh g−1 at 5 C). The effects of MWCNTs on the morphology of the electrodes and the electrochemical performances have been studied. It is found that the electrostatic repulsion between the charged spray droplets can be remarkably reduced by excessive adding MWCNTs, which leads to the breakdown of the 3D porous morphology of the MnO film electrodes and the electrochemical performance becomes worse.

Ferroelectric properties of sodium doped cesium nitrate - polymer composite films

ABSTRACTThe ferroelectric properties of sodium doped cesium nitrate (Cs1−xNaxNO3) - polymer composite films have been studied. The composite film of Cs1−xNaxNO3: PVA with doping concentration x = 13.6% prepared by spray deposition method at substrate temperature Ts = 200°C shows optimum value of remanent polarization and polarization current. The improved properties have been attributed to high structural distortion.

Micro-sized TiO2 as photoactive catalyst coated on industrial porcelain grès tiles to photodegrade drugs in water.

Pharmaceutical compounds and their metabolites raise worrying questions because of their continuous release and lack of efficient removal by conventional wastewater treatments; therefore, they are being detected in groundwater, surface water and drinking water in increasing concentrations. Paracetamol and aspirin are two of the most commonly used drugs employed as fever reducer, analgesic and anti-inflammatory. They and their metabolites are very often found in river water, so their degradation is necessary in order to render water suitable for human consumption. The present work is focused on the comparison of the photocatalytic performance of industrial active grés porcelain tiles covered with a commercial micro-sized TiO2 by industrial process using either conventional spray deposition or innovative digital printing methods. The photodegradation of two commonly used drugs, namely aspirin and paracetamol, was investigated both individually and as a mixture, in both deionized and tap water. The results reveal the full conversion of the drugs and the significant role of the photocatalytic tiles in the mineralization processes leading to harmless inorganic species. In particular, the digitally printed tiles exhibited better photodegradation performance for both drugs compared to the spray deposited tiles. No deactivation was observed on both photocatalytic tiles.

Lithium-Ion Capacitor Based on LiFePO4 and Nanostructured Carbon By Electrostatic Spray Deposition

Many efforts have demonstrated the practicability of power units based on electrical double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) to replace or complement batteries, generally because of their ability to deliver higher power density, faster charge and discharge rate as wells as longer operational life cycle. However, EDLCs exhibit relatively poor energy density. This limitation is revealed in portable electronic systems whose functions demand high energy and power density at the same time. In order to overcome the low energy density limitation of EDLCs, lithium-ion capacitors have gained much interest. Lithium-ion capacitors are hybrid electrochemical charge storage devices that combine the high energy density capability of lithium-ion batteries and the high power density in EDLCs. This is typically achieved by using electrodes based on battery-type lithium intercalating material as the high energy density source, and a capacitor-type material as the high power density source, in a lithium-containing electrolyte. In this work, we evaluated the electrochemical performance of lithium-ion capacitor comprising lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery-type cathode and reduced graphene oxide-carbon nanotube (RGO-CNT) composite as capacitor-type anode for half and full cells. The electrodes were prepared via electrostatic spray deposition (ESD) method, a thin-film deposition method capable of operating in ambient conditions. The choice of LiFePO4 is mainly because it is relatively inexpensive and exhibit attractive electrochemical properties such as good cycling stability, high intercalating potential of ~3.5 V versus Li+/Li as well as flat voltage plateaus. On the other hand, among a variety of nanostructured carbon materials, RGO-CNT composite has been shown as a good double-layer electrode material in EDLCs with high power density capability. Material characterization of the electrodes was carried out using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-Ray diffractometry (XRD) respectively. Detailed results will be presented at the meeting.

Thermoelectric properties of bismuth-substituted calcium manganite Ca&lt;sub&gt;1&amp;minus;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;x&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/i&gt;Bi&lt;i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;x&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/i&gt;MnO&lt;sub&gt;3&amp;minus;&amp;delta;&lt;/sub&gt; prepared via the electrostatic spray deposition method

Thermoelectric properties of bismuth-substituted calcium manganite Ca&lt;sub&gt;1&amp;minus;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;x&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/i&gt;Bi&lt;i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;x&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/i&gt;MnO&lt;sub&gt;3&amp;minus;&amp;delta;&lt;/sub&gt; prepared via the electrostatic spray deposition method

Formation of pristine CuSCN layer by spray deposition method for efficient perovskite solar cell with extended stability

By employing CuSCN, a low-cost inorganic hole transporting material (HTM), CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cell (PSC) devices with high efficiency and extended stability were successfully fabricated in this work. In particular, we developed a facile method of depositing CuSCN layer reproducibly by a simple spray deposition technique, which allows the formation of the CuSCN layer without any significant damage of the underlying CH3NH3PbI3 layer. The fabricated PSC with ~50nm-thick pristine CuSCN layer exhibits the photovoltaic conversion efficiency (PCE) of 17.10% with JSC of 23.10mA/cm2, VOC of 1,013mV and FF of 0.731. Compared with conventional PSCs based on spiro-OMETAD HTM, the PSC employing CuSCN exhibits higher value of JSC, suggesting that CuSCN transports holes more efficiently than spiro-OMETAD. Furthermore, PSCs employing the pristine CuSCN demonstrate a remarkable long-term stability at ambient condition with the decrease of PCE by only 5.8% after 100 days. In addition, the PCE decrease during the encapsulation process at 120°C was merely 13%, which is much lower value than ~70% observed for the conventional device based on spiro-OMETAD, indicating excellent thermal stability of the CuSCN-based PSCs.

Fast preparation of uniform large grain size perovskite thin film in air condition via spray deposition method for high efficient planar solar cells

Spray deposition has been demonstrated to be a promising method to prepare perovskite thin film with many advantages, such as easy and processable under fully ambient condition, which is suitable for large-scale production. In this work, we reveal two typical spray deposition process of rapid and slow solvent evaporation. It is emphasized that the rapid solvent evaporation process is essential to avoid dendritic crystal and obtain dense perovskite thin film without pin-holes, which can be realized with a suitable substrate temperature. With optimized spray conditions including flow rate of precursor solution and carrier gas pressure, a dense and uniform perovskite layer with full surface coverage was immediately formed in ~5s without any post-annealing process. The as-fabricated planar heterojunction solar cell achieved a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 13.54% with 300±30nm in thickness of perovskite layer. To the best of our knowledge, this result is the highest value for the CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cells fabricated in air condition with high humidity up to 50%.

Fabrication of three-dimensional porous ZnMn2O4 thin films on Ni foams through electrostatic spray deposition for high-performance lithium-ion battery anodes

Three-dimensional (3D) porous ZnMn2O4 thin films on nickel foam substrates have been successfully synthesized through electrostatic spray deposition (ESD) method followed by an annealing process for lithium-ion battery anodes. These films exhibit excellent cycling performance with a reversible capacity of around 982 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 400 mA g−1. The ZnMn2O4 films also display good rate capability with 455 mAh g−1 at 5 A g−1. The superior battery performances of ZnMn2O4 films are ascribed to 3D porous ZnMn2O4 film directly deposited on Ni foam, which can offer effective empty space to accommodate the large volume variation during cycling, increase reaction sites, and improve the electron transport. The ESD strategy is facile, cost-effective, which can be potentially utilized to construct other 3D porous mixed transition-metal oxides materials as well.

Formation of few-layer graphene flake structures from graphite particles during thin film coating using dry spray deposition method

This work demonstrates the formation of few-layer graphene flake structures directly from graphite particles. A nano-particle deposition system, which is a dry spray deposition method generally used for deposition of metals and ceramics, has been introduced to deposit graphite particles at room temperature. In this study, graphite powder was deposited on a Cu substrate without using binders and the deposited thin film was characterized. The deposited thin film contained few-layer graphene flake structures, as observed using field effect scanning electron microscopy and confirmed using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and field emission transmission electron microscopy. We also suggested the critical impact velocity for deposition of few-layer graphene flake structured thin film and a mechanism for forming few-layer graphene flake structures during thin film preparation. The suggested mechanism was interlayer separation of micron-sized graphite particles and fragmentation of particles into small pieces during deposition due to the impact of graphite particles on the substrate.

Substrate-dependent deposition behavior of graphite particles dry-sprayed at room temperature using a nano-particle deposition system

This work demonstrates the effect of the substrate upon the deposition of graphite microparticles during thin film preparation at room temperature using a nanoparticle deposition system (NPDS). NPDS is a dry spray deposition method, whereby various metal and ceramic powders can be deposited at room temperature without the use of any binders. Graphite powder was deposited on various substrates of different hardness, namely polystyrene, copper, glass, and sapphire, and the substrate-dependent deposition behaviors were investigated. For the soft polystyrene substrate, graphite particles fragmented into small pieces during deposition, but retained the original graphite crystal structure. For the copper substrate, which is of intermediate hardness, some areas of the deposited film showed fragmented particles that had undergone interlayer separation to yield few-layer graphene flakes, but in other areas of the film a fragmented graphite structure was observed, of particles that did not undergo interlayer separation. In contrast, intense fragmentation and interlayer separation of microscale graphite particles to form small and few-layer graphene flake structures were observed on the hardest substrates, glass and sapphire. The degree of fragmentation and interlayer separation of the microscale graphite particles were substrate-dependent: these phenomena increased as the hardness of the substrate was increased.

Boron-doped cobalt oxide thin films and its electrochemical properties

The cobalt oxide and boron-doped cobalt oxide thin films were produced by spray deposition method. All films were obtained onto glass and fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates at 400[Formula: see text]C and annealed at 550[Formula: see text]C. We present detailed analysis of the morphological and optical properties of films. XRD results show that boron doping disrupts the structure of the films. Morphologies of the films were investigated by using a scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Optical measurements indicate that the band gap energies of the films change with boron concentrations. The electrochemical supercapacitor performance test has been studied in aqueous 6 M KOH electrolyte and with scan rate of 5 mV/s. Measurements show that the largest capacitance is obtained for 3% boron-doped cobalt oxide film.

Fabrication of the Large Area Thin-Film Solid Oxide Fuel Cells with Anodized Aluminum Oxide

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have been developed toward lowering their operating temperature (800-1000oC) due to the thermal issues such as degradation of catalyst, material selection and sealing integrity. Thin film-solid oxide fuel cells (TF-SOFCs) using nano-scale thin film electrolyte are one of the promising research for lowering operating temperature SOFCs (LT-SOFCs) which is normally operated in 300-500oC. This TF-SOFC suggests the probability for compensation of low ionic conductivity in low temperature region by reducing the ohmic loss.For the several groups researching the TF-SOFCs, they use only small active area of cathode which not exceeds a few millimeter squares because of the thin morphology of cathode for TF-SOFCs. The thin porous films of cathode are mainly due to the triple phase boundary (TPB) of cathode which is meeting point of gas phase of oxygen, catalyst material of cathode and solid state electrolyte. This porous thin nature of cathode has the high sheet resistance which is normally considered for dominant factor of increasing ohmic resistance for TF-SOFCs. It may mitigate the sheet resistance by depositing more thick thickness of cathode, but increased thickness of cathode is lost active TPBs on the cathode surface because of increased thickness may form the intact thin films which is detrimental to maintain the TPBs on the cathode surface. Thus the cathode of TF-SOFCs is considered to necessity of both porous morphology and as thin thickness of cathode but this thin thickness of porous cathode still deteriorates the cell performance with a high sheet resistance which still dominantly affects the drop of cell performance for enlarged cathode area of TF-SOFCs.The multi-wall carbon nano-tube (MWCNT) which is considered the promising electronic conductor has the features of current collection for the TF-SOFCs due to their perfection bonding structure with a high strength and ability of electronic conduction. MWCNTs also suggest the permeability of oxygen fuel through the chain-bond structure of CNT, while their current path is preserved in elevating temperature. Therefore, the adopting MWCNT as a current collector on the cathode materials is possible to provide novel method of maintain the TPB density on the cathode with few nano-meters of thickness, as well as furnish the high electrical path-way with reduced sheet resistance of TF-SOFCs.For fabrication of fuel cells, the anodized aluminum oxides are used as a porous substrate which is able to accommodate the thin film membrane electrode assembly (MEA). The simple symmetry structure of MEA, which platinum as both anode and cathode materials, is composed with electrolyte of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) deposited with sputtering process. The cathode area of these fuel cells is fabricated with the ~3cm2 active area with a sputtering. The diluted MWCNT with dimethylformamide (DMF) is consecutively coated on the cathode of fuel cells with a spray deposition method. A fuel cell with MWCNT current collector indicates higher open circuit potential of 1.01V and peak power density of 4.4mW/cm2 at 450oC, comparing with a fuel cell with pristine symmetry Pt/YSZ/Pt fuel cells in AAO (as shown in figure 1.). These high OCV and enhanced peak power density is considered that the MWCNT has perfect roll to current collector with decreased sheet resistance and to no blockage of oxygen fuel access to the cathode side as well.Figure1. (a) Polarization curves and (b) Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis for pristine fuel cell of Pt/YSZ/Pt on AAO and MWCNT-Pt/YSZ/Pt Figure 1

A New Membrane Electrode Assembly Structure with Novel Flow Fields for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells

A conventional polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) incorporates a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) which is comprised of the anode catalyst layer-polymer electrolyte -cathode catalyst layer sandwiched between two gas diffusion layers (GDLs), and bipolar plates. Conventional GDL is typically comprised of highly porous carbon paper or cloth to help diffuse the reactant gases onto the electrode, which is coated with a thin micro-porous layer (MPL). At high current densities, mass transport limitations of fuel or oxidizer in the PEFC occur in porous structures of the GDL, particularly at the cathode, which result in a sharp drop in the output voltage. The key to minimizing mass-transport losses is effective water management in the cell. Liquid water in macro-pores of GDL decreases the fuel cell performance at high current density due to the lack of oxygen reaching the catalyst layer. A new MEA structure is recently introduced, where the carbon paper backing layer is eliminated and the entire gas diffusion layer consists of only the MPL [1]. We have further improved on this concept by directly depositing the MPL onto the CCM, resulting in an improvement in the interfacial contact between the MPL and the catalyst layer, as well as a simplified fabrication and assembly process. Spray deposition method was used for depositing this MPL onto a commercial CCM [2]. This concept was proven to work and perform better than a conventional cell with a micro-channel flow field used to provide the desired pathway for the reactant gases throughout the cell substituting for the macro porous carbon paper and the millimeter sized flow field. In this work, a porous foam is utilized as the flow field to distribute the reactant gases over the micro-porous layer instead of the micro-channel flow field. Various pore sizes of the foam, i.e. 60-100 PPI, are used to compare with the conventional micro channel flow field. Contact resistance, permeability, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and mechanical properties are used to further characterize the new MEA structure incorporating the porous foam flow field. This method can be an effective way of enabling very high power density operation by reducing the mass transport limitations, and provides an improvement in the interfacial contact between the MEA and the flow field as well as improved mechanical properties. [1] T. Kotaka, Y. Tabuchi, U. Pasaogullari, and C. Y. Wang, Electrochim. Acta, 146, 618 (2014). [2] J. Park, U. Pasaogullari, L. J. Bonville, ECS Transactions, 69, 1355-1362 (2015).