Dr. Radenka Maric, a researcher at the University of Connecticut has discovered how to use 10 times less catalyst in PEM Fuel Cells. Dr. Maric uses the Reactive Spray Deposition Technique to achieve results.
According to UConn, “The focuses of this program is on an adaptation of the Reactive Spray Deposition Technique for PEM Catalyst layer fabrication. It is now possible to co-deposit an entire low loading (<0.05mg/cm2 Pt) thin film (<0.5-3um) catalyst layer directly from precursors with this approach.
“The RSDT manufactured catalyst layer has a performance of 1 A/cm2 at 0.6V with 0.05mg/cm2 Pt cathode loading, in H2/O2 with 100 %RH, which is higher than the best low loading sputtered catalyst layers that have been published at 0.1mg/cm2 Pt loading.
“The broader goal of this program is to investigate the interplay of manufacturing, microstructure and performance for the creation of thinner catalyst layers (
Dr. Maric has published a 16-page PDF file outlining her research. And with regards to this story, a tip of the hat to Fuel Cells 2000 for this, well, tip. 🙂