Method for making a fuel cell electrode
AssigneeUnited Technologies Corporation
InventorHarold Russell Kunz
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Abstract
A support material for platinum, platinum alloys, or other noble metal catalyst, is made from carbon particles by heat treating the carbon until it is at least partially graphitized, depositing a metal on the heat treated carbon particles which will catalyze the oxidation of graphite in an oxidizing atmosphere, and oxidizing the surfaces of the heat treated carbon particles at the sites of the catalyst crystals to pit or etch the surfaces at these sites. When this material is used as a support for platinum it reduces the rate of platinum migration when the supported platinum catalyst is heated in the presence of a liquid, thereby reducing the loss of platinum surface area which often occurs under these conditions.
Claims7
In the process of making a fuel cell electrode the steps of:
- depositing metal oxidizing catalyst crystallites on the surfaces of support particles consisting of carbon which is at least partially graphitized;
- oxidizing the surface of the support particles only at the metal oxidizing catalyst crystallite sites;
- removing the metal oxidizing catalyst crystallites;
- depositing platinum on the oxidized support particles to form a supported platinum catalyst;
- forming an admixture of the supported platinum catalyst and a fluorocarbon polymer binder;
- and
- depositing said admixture onto a substrate to form a fuel cell electrode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.