Composite gas diffusion layer and preparation method thereof, membrane electrode and electrochemical hydrogen compressor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024332578-A1
Application number	US-202318208058-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 9, 2023
Priority date	Mar 27, 2023
Publication date	Oct 3, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of compressors, and in particular, to a composite gas diffusion layer, a preparation method thereof, a membrane electrode, and an electrochemical hydrogen compressor. The composite gas diffusion layer applied to an electrochemical hydrogen compressor includes: a base layer, a hydrophobic layer, and a water-absorbing layer, and the base layer, the hydrophobic layer, and the water-absorbing layer are sequentially stacked. The composite gas diffusion layer of the present application is designed for an inherent problem of the drying up of the anode during the operation of the electrochemical hydrogen compressor, and by arranging a layered structure for water absorption/hydrophobicity, the composite gas diffusion layer can improve the compression performance of the membrane electrode of the compressor and reduce the ohmic impedance of the membrane electrode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A composite gas diffusion layer applied to an electrochemical hydrogen compressor, comprising:
a base layer; a hydrophobic layer; and a water-absorbing layer; wherein the base layer, the hydrophobic layer, and the water-absorbing layer are sequentially stacked.

2 . The composite gas diffusion layer according to claim 1 , wherein,
the water-absorbing layer comprises following components in weight percentage:

a first carbon black
5%-10%;     

a water-absorbing agent
5%-20%; and

a first solvent
70%-90%;    

and wherein,

the hydrophobic layer comprises following components in weight percentage:

a second carbon black
4%-10%;

a hydrophobic agent
4%-10%;

a binder
 0.5%-3%; and

a second solvent
77%-90%. 

3 . The composite gas diffusion layer according to claim 2 , wherein,
the water-absorbing agent comprises one or a combination of two or more of nitric acid, hydrophilic silicon dioxide, hydrophilic titanium dioxide, hydrophilic tin dioxide, polyvinyl alcohol, cellulose, perfluorosulfonic acid resin solution, and agarose; and/or the first solvent comprises one or a combination of two or more of ethanol, water, ethylene glycol, and n-propanol or isopropanol; and/or the second solvent comprises one or a combination of two or more of ethanol, water, ethylene glycol, and n-propanol or isopropanol.

4 . The composite gas diffusion layer according to claim 2 , wherein the hydrophobic agent comprises one or a combination of two or more of polytetrafluoroethylene, polyvinylidene fluoride, polychlorotrifluoroethylene, and a tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer or a tetrafluoroethylene-perfluoro(alkyl vinyl ether) copolymer; and/or
the binder comprises sodium carboxymethylcellulose.

5 . The composite gas diffusion layer according to claim 1 , wherein the base layer comprises one or a combination of two or more of carbon fiber cloth, carbon fiber felt, carbon fiber paper, stainless steel mesh, foamed titanium, titanium felt, and powder sintered titanium plate.

6 . The composite gas diffusion layer according to claim 1 , wherein more than 80% of pores in the base layer have an aperture of 50 μm-200 μm, the hydrophobic layer has an aperture of 5 μm-50 μm, and the water-absorbing layer has an aperture of 1 μm-50 μm; and
wherein the water-absorbing layer has a thickness of 10 μm-65 μm, the hydrophobic layer has a thickness of 10 μm-65 μm, and the base layer has a thickness of 100 μm-300 μm.

7 . A preparation method of the composite gas diffusion layer according to claim 1 , comprising following steps:
preparing a hydrophobic slurry from raw material components used in the hydrophobic layer, coating the hydrophobic slurry on a surface of the base layer, carrying out a drying treatment, and sintering to form the hydrophobic layer; and preparing a water-absorbing slurry from raw material components used in the water-absorbing layer, coating the water-absorbing slurry on a surface of the hydrophobic layer, and carrying out a second drying treatment to obtain the composite gas diffusion layer.

8 . The preparation method according to claim 7 , further comprising: stirring the raw material components used in the hydrophobic layer at a speed of 500 rpm/min-1500 rpm/min for 2.5 hrs-3.5 hrs, leaving to stand for 5 hrs-15 hrs to obtain the hydrophobic slurry, and applying the hydrophobic slurry on the base layer by scraping, spray coating, or roll coating, drying at 70° C.-90° C. for 15 mins-25 mins, then baking at 240° C.-260° C. for 25 mins-35 mins, and heating up to 340° C.-360° C. for sintering for 25 mins-35 mins to form the hydrophobic layer on the surface of the base layer; and
stirring the raw material components used in the water-absorbing layer at a speed of 500 rpm/min-1500 rpm/min for 2.5 hrs-3.5 hrs, leaving to stand for 1.5 hrs-2.5 hrs to obtain the water-absorbing slurry, and applying the water-absorbing slurry on the hydrophobic layer by scraping, spray coating, or roll coating, drying at a temperature from a room temperature to 90° C. for 15 mins-30 mins to obtain the composite gas diffusion layer.

9 . The preparation method according to claim 6 , wherein,
the water-absorbing layer comprises following components in weight percentage:

a first carbon black
5%-10%;     

a water-absorbing agent
5%-20%; and

a first solvent
70%-90%;    

and wherein,

the hydrophobic layer comprises following components in weight percentage:

a second carbon black
4%-10%;

a hydrophobic agent
4%-10%;

a binder
 0.5%-3%; and

a second solvent
77%-90%. 

10 . The preparation method according to claim 9 , wherein,
the water-absorbing agent comprises one or a combination of two or more of nitric acid, hydrophilic silicon dioxide, hydrophilic titanium dioxide, hydrophilic tin

Assignees

• Univ Southern Sci & Tech

Inventors

• Zou Jiexin
• Wang Min
• Wang Haijiang

Classifications

• H01M8/0245

  in the form of layered or coated products · CPC title

• H01M8/1004

  characterised by membrane-electrode assemblies [MEA] (H01M8/12 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01M8/0656 Primary

  by electrochemical means (H01M8/065 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01M8/04291

  Arrangements for managing water in solid electrolyte fuel cell systems (H01M8/04119 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01M4/8668

  Binders · CPC title