Patent Application
20250236966
This application is based on and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-006307, filed on 18 Jan. 2024, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to an electrode transfer method and an electrode positioning jig.
A catalyst coated membrane (CCM) including an anode electrode and a cathode electrode laid on, and transferred to, both respective sides of a solid polymer electrolyte membrane has been known to be used for water electrolysis or for any other similar purpose (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
If the catalyst coated membrane (CCM) is used for water electrolysis or for any other similar purpose, it may be shaped to be cylindrical to boost the gas pressure. In this case, a need arises to position the anode electrode and the cathode electrode such that these electrodes face each other with the solid polymer electrolyte membrane interposed therebetween. However, visual positioning of these electrodes makes it difficult to accurately position these electrodes.
The present invention relates to an electrode transfer method for transferring electrodes (e.g., electrodes 2) to a solid polymer electrolyte membrane (e.g., a solid polymer electrolyte membrane 3). The electrodes include a ring-shaped anode electrode (e.g., an anode electrode 21) and a ring-shaped cathode electrode (e.g., a cathode electrode 22) that each have a through hole (e.g., a through hole 21a, 22a) at a center of the electrode. The method includes: a first subsidiary material installation step (e.g., a first subsidiary material installation step S1) of installing a subsidiary material (e.g., a subsidiary material 4) by insertion of a shaft member (e.g., a shaft member 11) through the subsidiary material; an anode electrode positioning jig installation step (e.g., an anode electrode positioning jig installation step S2) of inserting the shaft member through an anode electrode positioning jig (e.g., an anode electrode positioning jig 12); an anode electrode installation step (e.g., an anode electrode installation step S3) of installing the anode electrode around the anode electrode positioning jig; a solid polymer electrolyte membrane installation step (e.g., a solid polymer electrolyte membrane installation step S4) of removing the anode electrode positioning jig and installing the solid polymer electrolyte membrane on the anode electrode and around the shaft member; a cathode electrode positioning jig installation step (e.g., a cathode electrode positioning jig installation step S5) of inserting the shaft member through a cathode electrode positioning jig (e.g., a cathode electrode positioning jig 13) on the solid polymer electrolyte membrane; a cathode electrode installation step (e.g., a cathode electrode installation step S6) of installing the cathode electrode around the cathode electrode positioning jig; a second subsidiary material installation step (e.g., a second subsidiary material installation step S7) of removing the cathode electrode positioning jig and installing another subsidiary material by insertion of the shaft member through the another subsidiary material; a shaft member removal step (e.g., a shaft member removal step S8) of pulling the shaft member out; and a hot press step (e.g., a hot press step S9) of, after the shaft member removal step, heating and pressing the electrodes sandwiched between the subsidiary materials from outside the subsidiary materials.
(2) In one preferred embodiment, the subsidiary materials each include a cushioning material (e.g., a cushioning material 41) and a mold releasing material (e.g., a mold releasing material 42).
(3) The present invention relates to an electrode positioning jig (e.g., an electrode positioning jig 1) for use in the electrode transfer method of the aspect (1) or (2). The electrode positioning jig includes: the anode electrode positioning jig; the cathode electrode positioning jig; and the shaft member. The anode electrode positioning jig and the cathode electrode positioning jig each have a through hole (e.g., a through hole 12a, 13a) at a center of the jig. The shaft member is concentrically insertable through the through holes.
(4) In one preferred embodiment, the anode electrode positioning jig has a greater thickness than the anode electrode, and the cathode electrode positioning jig has a greater thickness than the cathode electrode.
According to the aspect (1), using the anode electrode positioning jig and the cathode electrode positioning jig through each of which the shaft member is inserted and each of which positions the associated electrode with reference to the inner periphery of the associated electrode can improve the accuracy of the position of transfer of the anode electrode and the cathode electrode between which the solid polymer electrolyte membrane is sandwiched.
According to the aspect (2), sandwiching the electrodes between the subsidiary materials makes it easier to equalize the pressure applied to the electrodes, and enables protection of the electrodes.
According to the aspect (3), the ring-shaped electrodes are concentrically aligned with the shaft member, which can be then pulled out. This enables accurate positioning.
According to the aspect (4), since the anode electrode positioning jig is thicker than the anode electrode, and the cathode electrode positioning jig is thicker than the cathode electrode, the anode electrode positioning jig and the cathode electrode positioning jig are more easily removed after being fitted into the through holes of the anode electrode and the cathode electrode, respectively. This enables easy and efficient positioning.
An embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. As illustrated in
The electrodes 2 are catalyst layers configured as an anode electrode 21 and a cathode electrode 22, which have a through hole 21a, 22a at their center, are applied to base materials 211 and 221, respectively, and are ring-shaped. The anode electrode 21 may contain, for example, a ruthenium (Ru) catalyst, and the cathode electrode 22 may contain, for example, a platinum catalyst. Examples of the base materials 211 and 221 include a sheet made of Teflon (Registered Trademark).
The solid polymer electrolyte membrane 3 may be, for example, a film of a perfluorosulfonic acid or the like including a sulfonic group. The solid polymer electrolyte membrane 3 has a through hole 3a through which a shaft member 11 to be described later is inserted. The through hole 3a has a diameter that is slightly larger than the diameter of the shaft member 11 so that the shaft member 11 is insertable therethrough.
Each subsidiary material 4 includes a cushioning material 41 and a mold releasing material 42, for example. The cushioning material 41 is intended to equalize the voltage across the associated electrode 2. A bulky sheet-like member that breathes well is suitably used as the cushioning material 41, and may be, for example, Fwat Light (Registered Trademark). The mold releasing material 42 is a sheet-like member for use to substantially prevent the cushioning material 41 and the electrode 2 from adhering to each other. The mold releasing material 42 may be a sheet coated with a mold release agent, and may be coated with a fluororesin, for example. The mold releasing material 42 is located between the cushioning material 41 and the electrode 2. The cushioning material 41 and the mold releasing material 42 each have a through hole 41a, 42a through which the shaft member 11 to be described later is inserted. The through holes 41a and 42a each have a diameter that is slightly larger than the diameter of the shaft member 11 so that the shaft member 11 is insertable therethrough. The subsidiary materials 4 are not shown in
As illustrated in
The shaft member 11 is a columnar member that is insertable through the through holes 21a and 22a of the anode electrode 21 and the cathode electrode 22 and the solid polymer electrolyte membrane 3, and is a so-called dowel pin.
The anode electrode positioning jig 12 is a cylindrical member having a through hole 12a at its center as illustrated in
The cathode electrode positioning jig 13 is a cylindrical member having a through hole 13a at its center as illustrated in
The anode electrode positioning jig 12 and the cathode electrode positioning jig 13 are arranged such that the shaft member 11 is concentrically inserted through the through holes 12a and 13a. The anode electrode positioning jig 12 and the cathode electrode positioning jig 13 may have either the same outside diameter or different outside diameters, and may have either the same thickness or different thicknesses. In this embodiment, a comparison between
An electrode transfer method using the positioning jig 1 according to this embodiment will be described. As illustrated in
Next, as illustrated in
Next, the anode electrode positioning jig 12 is fitted into a through hole 21a of an anode electrode 21 around the anode electrode positioning jig 12, thereby installing the anode electrode 21 (an anode electrode installation step S3).
Next, as illustrated in
Next, as illustrated in
Next, the cathode electrode positioning jig 13 is fitted into a through hole 22a of a cathode electrode 22 around the cathode electrode positioning jig 13, thereby installing the cathode electrode 22 (a cathode electrode installation step S6).
Next, as illustrated in
Next, as illustrated in
According to this embodiment, the following advantages are provided.
(1) The electrode transfer method for transferring the electrodes 2 to the solid polymer electrolyte membrane 3, the electrodes 2 including the ring-shaped anode electrode 21 and the ring-shaped cathode electrode 22 that each have a through hole 21a, 22a at their center, includes the first subsidiary material installation step S1 of installing a subsidiary material 4 through insertion of the shaft member 11 through the subsidiary material 4, the anode electrode positioning jig installation step S2 of inserting the shaft member 11 through the anode electrode positioning jig 12, the anode electrode installation step S3 of installing the anode electrode 21 around the anode electrode positioning jig 12, the solid polymer electrolyte membrane installation step S4 of removing the anode electrode positioning jig 12 and installing the solid polymer electrolyte membrane 3 on the anode electrode 21 and around the shaft member 11, the cathode electrode positioning jig installation step S5 of inserting the shaft member 11 through the cathode electrode positioning jig 13 on the solid polymer electrolyte membrane 3, the cathode electrode installation step S6 of installing the cathode electrode 22 around the cathode electrode positioning jig 13, the second subsidiary material installation step S7 of removing the cathode electrode positioning jig 13 and installing another subsidiary material 4 on the cathode electrode 22 by insertion of the shaft member 11 through the another subsidiary material 4, the shaft member removal step S8 of pulling the shaft member 11 out, and the hot press step S9 of, after the shaft member removal step S8, heating and pressing the electrodes 2 sandwiched between the subsidiary materials 4 from outside the subsidiary materials 4. Using the anode electrode positioning jig 12 and the cathode electrode positioning jig 13 through each of which the shaft member 11 is inserted and each of which positions the associated electrode 2 with reference to the inner periphery of the associated electrode 2 can improve the accuracy of the position of transfer of the anode electrode 21 and the cathode electrode 22 between which the solid polymer electrolyte membrane 3 is sandwiched.
(2) According to this embodiment, the subsidiary materials 4 each include the cushioning material 41 and the mold releasing material 42. Sandwiching the electrodes 2 between the subsidiary materials 4 makes it easier to equalize the pressure applied to the electrodes 2, and enables protection of the electrodes 2.
(3) According to this embodiment, the electrode positioning jig 1 for use in the electrode transfer method of the feature (1) or (2) includes the anode electrode positioning jig 12, the cathode electrode positioning jig 13, and the shaft member 11. The anode electrode positioning jig 12 and the cathode electrode positioning jig 13 each have the through hole 12a, 13a at their center. The shaft member 11 is concentrically insertable through the through holes 12a and 13a. The ring-shaped electrodes 2 are concentrically aligned with the shaft member 11, which can be then pulled out. This enables accurate positioning.
(4) According to this embodiment, the anode electrode positioning jig 12 has a greater thickness than the anode electrode 21, and the cathode electrode positioning jig 13 has a greater thickness than the cathode electrode 22. Since the anode electrode positioning jig 12 is thicker than the anode electrode 21, and the cathode electrode positioning jig 13 is thicker than the cathode electrode 22, the anode electrode positioning jig 12 and the cathode electrode positioning jig 13 are more easily removed after being fitted into the through holes 21a and 22a of the anode electrode 21 and the cathode electrode 22, respectively. This enables easy and efficient positioning.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-006307 | Jan 2024 | JP | national |
