Method of manufacturing electrolyte membrane with high-durability for fuel cell

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10971738-B2
Application number	US-201816203063-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 28, 2018
Priority date	Apr 4, 2018
Publication date	Apr 6, 2021
Grant date	Apr 6, 2021

Abstract

A method of manufacturing an electrolyte membrane for fuel cells with improved durability for fuel cells includes: preparing a substrate; applying a first ionomer solution onto the substrate; inserting a porous support into the first ionomer solution to impregnate the first ionomer solution in the porous support; allowing the first ionomer solution-impregnated porous support to stand; applying a second ionomer solution to the first ionomer solution-impregnated porous support; and drying the porous support.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for manufacturing an electrolyte membrane for fuel cells, the method comprising steps of:
preparing a substrate;
applying a first ionomer solution onto the substrate;
inserting a porous support into the first ionomer solution to impregnate the first ionomer solution in the porous support;
allowing the first ionomer solution-impregnated porous support to stand;
applying a second ionomer solution to the first ionomer solution-impregnated porous support; and
drying the porous support,
wherein, after the porous supported is inserted into the first ionomer solution, the first ionomer solution-impregnated porous support is allowed to stand at a pressure of 0.1 to 1 atm, and
wherein the step of applying a second ionomer solution includes applying, after allowing the first ionomer solution-impregnated porous support to stand, the second ionomer solution onto the first ionomer solution-impregnated porous support, without an additional drying process.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate is a release paper selected from the group consisting of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polyimide (PI), and polypropylene (PP).

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first ionomer solution comprises an ionomer selected from the group consisting of sulfonated polyimide (S-PI), sulfonated polyarylethersulfone (S-PAES), sulfonated polyetheretherketone (S-PEEK), perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA), sulfonated polybenzimidazole (S-PBI), sulfonated polysulfone (S-PSU), sulfonated polystyrene (S-PS), sulfonated polyphosphazeneanda, and a mixture thereof.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second ionomer solution comprises an ionomer selected from the group consisting of sulfonated polyimide (S-PI), sulfonated polyarylethersulfone (S-PAES), sulfonated polyetheretherketone (S-PEEK), perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA), sulfonated polybenzimidazole (S-PBI), sulfonated polysulfone (S-PSU), sulfonated polystyrene (S-PS), sulfonated polyphosphazene, and a mixture thereof.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the porous support comprises an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (e-PTFE) support.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, in the step of applying the first ionomer solution onto the substrate, the first ionomer solution is bar coated, gravure coated, or slot-die coated.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, in the step of applying the second ionomer solution onto the substrate, the second ionomer solution is bar coated, gravure coated, or slot-die coated.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, after the porous supported is inserted into the first ionomer solution, the first ionomer solution-impregnated porous support is allowed to stand at 18° C. to 30° C.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, after the porous supported is inserted into the first ionomer solution, the first ionomer solution-impregnated porous support is allowed to stand for 5 to 10 minutes before applying the second ionomer solution.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, in the step of applying the second ionomer solution to the first ionomer solution-impregnated porous support, the second ionomer solution is applied onto the porous support, after allowing the first ionomer solution-impregnated porous support to stand and before completely drying a solvent of the first ionomer solution.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of drying is carried out at 60° C. to 80° C. for 5 to 30 minutes.

12. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising heat-treating at 140° C. to 160° C. for 5 to 30 minutes after the step of applying the second ionomer solution.

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Motors Corp

Inventors

• Kim Yong Min

Classifications

• H01M8/1086 Primary

  After-treatment of the membrane other than by polymerisation · CPC title

• H01M8/106

  characterised by the chemical composition of the porous support · CPC title

• H01M8/1044 Primary

  Mixtures of polymers, of which at least one is ionically conductive · CPC title

• H01M2008/1095

  Fuel cells with polymeric electrolytes · CPC title

• H01M8/1081 Primary

  starting from solutions, dispersions or slurries exclusively of polymers · CPC title