Nanofiber Paper for Fuel Cells and Catalyst Supports

The commercial viability of fuel cells is inhibited by the cost associated with the use of expensive catalysts such as platinum. Thus, a key DOE objective is to reduce the amount of catalysts while achieving improved performance. It has been found that when commercial fuel cell electrodes are modified with a very thin layer of cheap carbon nanofibers, the activity of catalysts on these electrodes goes up many times, allowing far less catalyst to be used. This project will apply this nanofiber modification technology to commercial fuel cell electrodes. In Phase I, a series of commercial fuel cell electrodes were nanofiber-modified in order to identify (1) the type of nanofiber that works best, (2) the optimum thickness for the nanofiber layer, and (3) the best way to apply the catalyst. Phase II will involve a thorough development program to use nanofiber modification to improve the existing products of a major manufacturer, which will be a collaborator on the project. An improved product, which uses less catalyst and is readily manufactured, will be demonstrated. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The nanofiber modification of commercial fuel cell electrodes should improve catalyst output by many times, reducing the required catalyst content. In turn, this improvement will drive down the cost for fuel cells in hybrid vehicles, backup power, portable power, etc. The manufacturing partner on the project is a worldwide supplier of fuel cell materials, which means that the technology should have a large impact.