Nanowire-based membrane electrode assemblies for fuel cells
AssigneeNanosys, Inc.
InventorsChunming Niu, Calvin Y. H. Chow, Stephen A. Empedocles, J. Wallace Parce
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Abstract
The present invention discloses nanowires for use in a fuel cell comprising a metal catalyst deposited on a surface of the nanowires. A membrane electrode assembly for a fuel cell is disclosed which generally comprises a proton exchange membrane, an anode electrode, and a cathode electrode, wherein at least one or more of the anode electrode and cathode electrode comprise an interconnected network of the catalyst supported nanowires. Methods are also disclosed for preparing a membrane electrode assembly and fuel cell based upon an interconnected network of nanowires.
Claims22
A nanostructured catalyst support for a membrane electrode assembly of a fuel cell comprising an interconnected network of nanowires each having a metal catalyst deposited thereon wherein the catalyst metal comprises nanoparticles having a diameter less than about 10 nm, wherein the nanowire network defines a plurality of pores between the nanowires in the network, wherein the plurality of pores have an effective pore size of less than about 10 microns.
A membrane electrode assembly, comprising a proton exchange membrane, an anode electrode, and a cathode electrode, wherein at least one or more of the anode electrode and cathode electrode comprise an interconnected network of nanowires each comprising one or more metal catalyst nanoparticles having a diameter between about 1 and 10 nm deposited thereon, and wherein the nanowire network defines a plurality of pores between the nanowires in the network, wherein the plurality of pores have an effective pore size of less than about 10 microns.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.