Method for the preparation of fibers from a catalyst solution, and articles comprising such fibers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9994972-B2
Application number	US-201515120161-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 19, 2015
Priority date	Feb 20, 2014
Publication date	Jun 12, 2018
Grant date	Jun 12, 2018

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for the preparation of fibers from a catalyst solution by electrospinning and further to articles comprising such fibers.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A process of producing an electrospun fibrous mat, said process comprising the steps of
(a) preparing an electrospinning ink comprising metal supported on a carrier, an ionomer, an electrospinning polymer and a solvent by mixing; and
(b) electrospinning in electrospinning equipment said electrospinning ink to obtain the electrospun fibrous mat,
wherein step (b) is performed by nozzle-free electrospinning.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the metal is selected from the group consisting of Sc, Y, Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Fe, Ru, Os, Co, Rh, Ir, Ni, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag, Au, Zn, Cd, Hg, lanthanides, actinides and any blend thereof.

3. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the carrier is selected from the group consisting of carbon, silica, metal oxides, metal halides and any blend thereof.

4. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the mixing in step (a) is performed by sonication, stirring, ball milling, homogenization or a combination of all.

5. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the ionomer comprises electrically neutral repeating units and ionized or ionizable repeating units.

6. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the solvent is selected from the group consisting of water, alcohols, ketones, ethers, amides and any blend thereof.

7. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the electrospinning equipment comprises two electrodes, the distance between which is at least 0.01 m and at most 2 m.

8. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the electrospinning is performed with an applied voltage of at least 1.0 kV and of at most 200 kV.

9. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the electrospinning ink comprises at least 1 wt % and at most 30 wt % of the combined amounts of metal with carrier, ionomer and electrospinning polymer, with wt % being relative to the total weight of the electrospinning ink.

10. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the electrospinning ink comprises at least 1 wt % and at most 15 wt % of the combined amounts of metal with carrier, ionomer and electrospinning polymer, with wt % being relative to the total weight of the electrospinning ink.

11. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the electrospinning ink comprises at least 1 wt % and at most 12 wt % of the combined amounts of metal with carrier, ionomer and electrospinning polymer, with wt % being relative to the total weight of the electrospinning ink.

12. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the electrospinning ink comprises the metal with carrier, the ionomer and the electrospinning polymer in a ratio of A : B : C with A being at least 10 parts and at most 80 parts, B being at least 1 part and at most 40 parts and C being at most 50 parts, with the sum of A, B and C being 100 parts, with parts being given as weight parts.

13. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the process further comprises the step of
(c) using said electrospun fibrous mat as anode or cathode or both in a membrane electrode assembly.

14. An electrospun fibrous mat obtained by the process of claim 1 .

15. A membrane electrode assembly comprising the electrospun fibrous mat of claim 14 .

16. A fuel cell comprising the membrane electrode assembly of claim 15 .

Assignees

• Merck Patent Gmbh

Inventors

• Kas Onur
• Tkacik Gabriel
• Moore Ashley
• Sylvia Ryan

Classifications

• C09D11/10 Primary

  based on artificial resins · CPC title

• D01F6/26

  from other polymers · CPC title

• D01F6/16

  from polymers of unsaturated carboxylic acids or unsaturated organic esters, e.g. polyacrylic esters, polyvinyl acetate · CPC title

• H01M4/8825

  Methods for deposition of the catalytic active composition · CPC title

• H01M2008/1095

  Fuel cells with polymeric electrolytes · CPC title