Patent Application
20250171916
The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2023-0167385, filed Nov. 28, 2023, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference.
The present disclosure relates to a porous transport layer, a composition for forming the same, and a method of preparing the same.
Anodes in a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) water electrolysis system undergo harsh conditions, so a porous transport layer (PTL) made of materials such as titanium instead of carbon materials is being applied. This PTL is positioned between an anode and a separator and serves to cause water electrolysis and oxygen generation reactions. The PTL is recognized as a part of a water electrolysis system where deterioration occurs and is regarded as a key factor in determining performance, durability, and manufacturing costs.
Typically, such a PTL can be applied to porous sintered bodies. However, there is a need for research and development on sintered bodies capable of being operable under kW-level water electrolysis conditions at high temperatures and high pressures, minimizing the formation of horizontally oriented irregular pores, and obtaining appropriate mechanical strength.
The information disclosed in this Background of the present disclosure section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the present disclosure and may not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the related art already known to a person skilled in the art.
Various aspects of the present disclosure are directed to providing a porous transport layer (PTL) exhibiting excellent performance at both low and high currents, obtaining good porosity, gas permeability, and strength, and facilitating a reactant and a product to move.
Objectives of the present disclosure are not limited to the objectives mentioned above. The above and other objectives of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following description, and will be realized by the means of the appended claims, and combinations thereof.
To achieve the above objective, a porous transport layer (PTL), according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, contains: 30 to 80 wt % of a metallic fiber-type material and 20 to 70 wt % of a metallic particle-type material, with respect to the total weight of the layer, in which each metal of the metallic fiber-type material and the metallic particle-type material includes a metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, zirconium, hafnium, nickel, stainless steel, and combinations thereof.
In the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the metallic fiber-type material may have an average diameter of 10 to 50 μm.
In the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the metallic fiber-type material may have a length corresponding to 30 to 1,000 times the diameter of the metallic fiber-type material.
In the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the metallic particle-type material may be derived from a metallic particle-type raw material having a average particle size of 5 to 80 μm.
In the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the porous transport layer may have a surface Ra roughness of 2.5 to 9.5 μm.
In the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the porous transport layer may have a porosity of 30% to 60%.
In the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the porous transport layer may have a gas permeability of 2.8·10−3 to 8.2·10−3 cm4/gf·s.
In the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the porous transport layer may have a thickness of 100 to 1000 μm.
To achieve the above objective, a composition for forming a porous transport layer (PTL), according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, contains: a metallic fiber-type raw material; a metallic particle-type raw material; and a solvent, in which the metallic fiber-type raw material and the metallic particle-type raw material have contents of 30 to 80 wt % and 20 to 70 wt %, with respect to the total weight of the metallic fiber-type raw material and the metallic particle-type raw material, respectively, and each metal of the metallic fiber-type raw material and the metallic particle-type raw material includes a metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, zirconium, hafnium, nickel, stainless steel, and combinations thereof.
In the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the composition for forming the porous transport layer may further contain a binder and a dispersant such that the composition contains: 21.3 to 56.8 wt % of the metallic fiber-type raw material, 14.2 to 49.7 wt % of the metallic particle-type raw material, 0.1 to 4 wt % of the binder, and 0.1 to 3 wt % of the dispersant.
In the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the dispersant may include one selected from the group consisting of water, ethanol, methanol, isopropanol, xylene, cyclohexanone, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, and combinations thereof.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the binder may include one selected from the group consisting of a polyvinyl butyral, a polyvinyl alcohol, a polyvinyl chloride, a polyvinyl acetate, a polyacrylonitrile, and combinations thereof.
To achieve the above objective, a method of forming a porous transport layer (PTL), according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, includes: (a) removing fat from the composition described above through a degreasing process at a predetermined temperature, and (b) sintering the resulting product obtained in the (a).
In the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the (a) may further include a process of shaping the composition.
In the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the degreasing process in the (a) may be performed at a temperature of 300° C. to 700° C.
In the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the sintering in the (b) may be performed at a temperature of 900° C. to 1400° C. and a vacuum level of 10−5 Torr or less.
A porous transport layer, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, can obtain good porosity, gas permeability, and strength while preventing electrodes or other parts from being damaged during the formation process.
A water electrolysis system to which a porous transport layer, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, is applied can exhibit excellent performance at both low and high currents and facilitate a reactant (water) and a product (oxygen) to move.
Effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the effect mentioned above. It should be understood that the effects of the present disclosure include all the effects which can be deduced from the following description.
The methods and apparatuses of the present invention have other features and advantages which will be apparent from or are set forth in more detail in the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and the following Detailed Description, which together serve to explain certain principles of the present invention.
It may be understood that the appended drawings are not necessarily to scale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of various features illustrative of the basic principles of the present disclosure. The specific design features of the present invention as disclosed herein, including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations, locations, and shapes will be determined in part by the particularly intended application and use environment.
In the figures, reference numbers refer to the same or equivalent parts of the present invention throughout the several figures of the drawing.
Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the present invention(s), examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described below. While the present disclosure(s) will be described in conjunction with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, it will be understood that the present description is not intended to limit the present disclosure(s) to those exemplary embodiments. On the contrary, the present disclosure(s) is/are intended to cover not only the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, but also various alternatives, modifications, equivalents and other embodiments, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.
Above objectives, other objectives, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will be readily understood from the following exemplary embodiments associated with the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described herein and may be embodied in other forms. The embodiments described herein are provided so that the present disclosure can be made thorough and complete and that the spirit of the present disclosure can be fully conveyed to those skilled in the art. Throughout the drawings, like elements are denoted by like reference numerals. In the accompanying drawings, the dimensions of the structures are larger than actual sizes for clarity of the present disclosure.
Terms used herein, “first”, “second”, etc., may be used to describe various components, but the components are not to be construed as being limited to the terms. These terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing a component from another component. For example, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, a first component may be referred to as a second component, and a second component may be also referred to as a first component. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “includes”, or “has” when used herein specify the presence of stated features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or combinations thereof.
It will also be understood that when an element such as a layer, film, area, or sheet is referred to as being “on” another element, it can be directly on the other element, or intervening elements may be present therebetween. Similarly, when an element such as a layer, film, area, or sheet is referred to as being “under” another element, it can be directly under the other element, or intervening elements may be present therebetween.
Unless otherwise specified, all numbers, values, and/or representations that express the amounts of components, reaction conditions, polymer compositions, and mixtures used herein are to be taken as approximations including various uncertainties affecting measurement that inherently occur in obtaining these values, among others, and thus should be understood to be modified by the term “about” in all cases.
Furthermore, when a numerical range is disclosed herein, the range is continuous, and includes all values from the minimum value of said range to the maximum value thereof, unless otherwise indicated. Moreover, when such a range pertains to integer values, all integers including the minimum value to the maximum value are included, unless otherwise indicated.
When applying a sintered body sintered after shaping general particles to a porous transport layer of a water electrolysis system, there is a possibility that the inflow of a liquid phase, a reactant, and the discharge of oxygen gas, a product, may not be properly achieved. Additionally, mass transport resistance may be high, making it difficult to form a porous transport layer having a predetermined or larger thickness. Furthermore, there are problems in that performance may be poor in a low current state, flexural rigidity is low, and shaping is difficult.
When applying fibers to such a porous transport layer, it is difficult to obtain appropriate surface roughness. Thus, the contact area between a catalyst electrode layer, the adjacent component, and a separator is small, thereby reducing a reaction area. Additionally, when assembling water electrolysis cells, there may be problems in that pressure become excessively high, a structure of the catalyst electrode layer is damaged, and a predetermined strength is difficult to obtain.
The inventors of the present disclosure have developed a porous transport layer in which a metallic fiber-type material and a metallic particle-type material are mixed in an optimal weight ratio to minimize such problems. Hereinafter, the porous transport layer will be described in detail.
Referring to
The porous transport layer 10 may have a form in which the metallic particle-type material 2 is introduced into gaps, pores, and surfaces between the metallic fiber-type material 1.
The metallic fiber-type material 1 may partially or entirely include one selected from the group consisting of mesh nets manufactured selectively through metallic fibers, felts, and combinations thereof.
The metallic fiber-type material 1 may have a content of 30 to 80 wt %, 40 to 75 wt %, or 50 to 65 wt %, with respect to the total weight of the layer. Additionally, the metallic particle-type material 2 may have a content of 20 to 70 wt %, 25 to 60 wt %, or 35 to 50 wt %, with respect to the total weight of the layer. By falling within the above numerical ranges, satisfactory properties of surface roughness and mass transport resistance suitable for a water electrolysis cell may be obtained. Additionally, process efficiency may be improved.
The metallic fiber-type material 1 may have an average diameter (wire diameter) of 10 to 50 μm, 12 to 45 μm, or 15 to 40 μm. When the average diameter of the metallic fiber-type material 1 is smaller than the above numerical range, the porosity may fail to be formed at a high level, leading to an increase in mass transport resistance. On the contrary, when the average diameter of the metallic fiber-type material 1 exceeds the above numerical range, the deviations in physical properties and quality by location may be extreme, and porosity may be excessively high.
The metallic fiber-type material 1 may have a length corresponding to 30 to 1,000 times or 50 to 500 times the diameter (the average diameter of the metallic fiber-type material) thereof. By falling within the above numerical ranges, satisfactory properties of surface roughness and mass transport resistance suitable for the water electrolysis cell may be obtained while minimizing the deviations in physical properties and quality.
The metallic fiber-type material 1 may be derived from a metallic fiber-type raw material having the average diameter and length, described above, and may include those where such forms are partially maintained. The diameter and length of the metallic fiber-type raw material may be practically the same as those of the metallic fiber-type material 1.
The average diameter and length of the metallic fiber-type material 1 may be confirmed and measured through images taken with a scanning electron microscope (SEM).
The metallic fiber-type material 1 and the metallic particle-type material 2 may be derived from metallic fiber-type raw materials and metallic particle-type raw materials, respectively. Alternatively, the metallic fiber-type material 1 and the metallic particle-type material 2 may be those being sintered, aggregated, necked, grown, and densified or those obtained through sintering using particular additives by controlling the sintering time and conditions during sintering without involving the common subsequent steps of sintering, coarsening, densification, and formation of isolated pores. On the basis of grain boundaries confirmed by images taken with a scanning electron microscope, the average particle size of the metallic particle-type material 2 may be the same as or larger than that of a metallic particle-type raw material. Additionally, the average diameter and length of the metallic fiber-type material 1 may be the same as or slightly larger than the average diameter and length of the metallic fiber-type raw material, which may be practically the same.
The metallic particle-type raw material may have an average particle size, D50 particle size, of 5 to 80 μm, 6 to 60 μm, or 8 to 40 μm. When the average particle size of the metallic particle-type raw material is smaller than the above numerical range, there may be problems in that the porous transport layer has an extremely low porosity and an extremely small pore size becomes more brittle. On the contrary, when the average particle size of the metallic particle-type raw material exceeds the above numerical range, the porous transport layer may have an extremely high porosity and surface roughness, making it difficult to exhibit appropriate physical properties as a composite. Additionally, the performance of the water electrolysis cell may be poor.
The D50 particle size may correspond to a particle size when the cumulative weight percentage reaches 50% in a cumulative distribution graph (particle size distribution) according to a weight fraction measured by a particle size analyzer.
The metallic particle-type raw material may have a circular, oval, polygonal, or irregular form. When the metallic particle-type raw material has a circular form, the size may correspond to the diameter. On the contrary, when the metallic particle-type raw material has a non-circular form, the size may correspond to the maximum length.
The porous transport layer may have a surface Ra roughness of 2.5 to 9.5 μm or 2.8 to 7.5 μm. By falling within the above numerical ranges, bonding to the catalyst electrode layer of the water electrolysis cell may be stably performed, and deterioration of the adjacent components may be minimized.
The porous transport layer 10 may have a predetermined pore size and may have a pore channel. The pore size may be in a range of 1 to 70 μm or 2 to 50 μm. Additionally, the porous transport layer 10 may have a porosity of 30% to 60% or 38% to 52%. By falling within the above numerical ranges, appropriate strength and rigidity may be obtained while lowering mass transport resistance. Furthermore, the movement of liquid water, the reactant, and gaseous oxygen, the product, may be facilitated.
The porous transport layer 10 may have a gas permeability of 2.8·10−3 to 8.2·10−3 cm4/gf·s or 3.8·10−3 to 6.2·10−3 cm4/gf·s. By falling within the above numerical ranges, the movement of liquid water, the reactant, and gaseous oxygen, the product, may be facilitated.
Gas permeability in 10−3 cm4/gf·s units may correspond to a permeation rate per membrane thickness and a permeability coefficient (10−3 cm3·cm/cm2·sec·gf·cm−2) at room temperature of 25° C. and may be converted to barrer units (10−10 cm3·cm/cm2·sec·cmHg) by multiplying a specific value.
The porous transport layer 10 may have a thickness of 100 to 1000 μm or 160 to 700 μm.
The porous transport layer 10 may be positioned adjacent to the water electrolysis cell, the catalyst electrode layer of the water electrolysis system, or an iridium-based electrode layer.
The porous transport layer 10 may be formed by removing fat from a composition for forming the porous transport layer, to be described later, through a degreasing process and then sintering the resulting product. Additionally, the diffusion, growth, and densification of the raw materials may be controlled and kept from excessively occurring during the sintering to form a complex porous structure composed of the metallic fiber-type material and the metallic particle-type material.
Referring to
In the composition for forming the porous transport layer, the metallic fiber-type raw material may correspond to the initial form of the metallic fiber-type material 1 of the porous transport layer before sintering.
In the composition for forming the porous transport layer, the metallic particle-type raw material may correspond to the initial form of the metallic particle-type material 2 of the porous transport layer before sintering.
The diameter and length of the metallic fiber-type raw material may be practically the same as those described above. The metallic fiber-type raw material may partially or entirely include one selected from the group consisting of mesh nets manufactured selectively through metallic fibers, felts, and combinations thereof.
The mean diameter and form of the metallic particle-type raw material may be practically the same as those described above.
The metallic component, contained in the entire metallic fiber-type raw material and metallic particle-type raw material, may have a content of 60 to 98 wt %, 65 to 85 wt %, or 70 to 80 wt %, with respect to the total weight of the composition. When the content of the metallic component is less than the above numerical range, sintering may fail to be performed smoothly between the metallic components. Additionally, there may be a problem in that the porous transport layer formed may have an excessively high porosity or low rigidity. On the contrary, when the content of the metallic component exceeds the above numerical range, the porous transport layer formed may have a low porosity or high viscosity, making it difficult to manufacture molded products and molded sheets using the composition normally.
The composition for forming the porous transport layer may further selectively contain an additive. Additionally, a material to control the dispersion, binding strength, and bubbles of the components in the composition for forming the porous transport layer may be contained.
The composition for forming the porous transport layer may further contain a binder and a dispersant as the additives such that the composition contains: 21.3 to 56.8 wt % of the metallic fiber-type raw material, 14.2 to 49.7 wt % of the metallic particle-type raw material, 0.1 to 4 wt % of the binder, 0.1 to 3 wt % of the dispersant, and 10 to 30 wt % of the solvent with respect to the total weight of the composition.
The binder may have a content of 0.1 to 4 wt %, 1 to 4 wt %, or 2 to 3.5 wt %, with respect to the total weight of the composition. When the content of the binder is less than the above numerical range, the binding strength between the metallic components in the porous transport layer to be formed may be insufficient, causing a problem of making shaping difficult. On the contrary, when the content of the binder exceeds the above numerical range, the binding strength between the components in the composition may be excessively high, causing a problem in that when prepared using a substrate or mold, the composition is excessively bonded.
The binder may include one selected from the group consisting of a polyvinyl butyral, a polyvinyl alcohol, a polyvinyl chloride, a polyvinyl acetate, a polyacrylonitrile, and combinations thereof. For example, the binder may include a material that is thermally degradable at a temperature of 500° C. or lower while allowing the binding strength between the metallic components to be maintained.
The dispersant may have a content of 0.1 to 3 wt %, 1 to 3 wt %, or 1.5 to 2.3 wt %, with respect to the total weight of the composition. When the content of the dispersant is less than the above numerical range, the metallic components in the composition may aggregate. On the contrary, when the content of the dispersant exceeds the above numerical range, the composition may have a low viscosity, causing problems of poor formability and workability.
The dispersant may include one selected from the group consisting of water, ethanol, methanol, isopropanol, xylene, cyclohexanone, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, and combinations thereof.
The solvent may have a content of 10 to 30 wt %, 15 to 30 wt %, or 20 to 30 wt %, with respect to the total weight of the composition. When the content of the solvent is less than the above numerical range, the composition may have a high viscosity, resulting in poor formability of the composition. Therefore, there may be problems in that the porous transport layer formed has a non-uniform thickness, and the deviations in porosity and pore size by location are extreme. On the contrary, when the content of the solvent exceeds the above numerical range, an excessive amount of the solvent is evaporated during the sintering, causing contamination of materials and equipment. Alternatively, the desired thickness and pore shape may be difficult to form.
The solvent may contain an alcohol-based material and a substituted or unsubstituted benzene-based material, including ethanol, toluene, and the like.
The composition for forming the porous transport layer may further contain an antifoaming agent. In the case where each metal of the metallic particle-type raw material and the metallic fiber-type raw material is titanium, the composition may contain TiH2.
Referring to
The (a) may further include a process of stirring the composition for forming the porous transport layer before performing the degreasing process. For example, a ball-milling process may be performed, and the stirring process may be performed for 1 hour or more, 10 to 30 hours, or 12 to 24 hours.
The (a) may further include a process of shaping the composition for forming the porous transport layer. The shaping process may be performed after the stirring process. For example, the shaping process may be a process of coating a release paper or substrate with the composition for forming the porous transport layer or may be a process of injecting the composition for forming the porous transport layer into a mold and applying pressure.
The coating process may be selected from the group consisting of dipping coating, doctor blade coating, comma coating, screen printing coating, tape casting, slot die coating, gravure coating, lip coating, and bar coating.
For example, the coating process may be doctor blade coating, where the coating speed is in a range of 0.3 to 1 m/min.
A process of cutting a sheet, formed after the coating process, to a predetermined length may be included.
The degreasing process in the (a) may be performed under an inert gas atmosphere at a temperature of 300° C. to 700° C., 350° C. to 600° C., or 400° C. to 500° C. When the temperature during the degreasing process is lower than the above numerical range, there may be a problem in that the solvent fails to be completely evaporated and thus remains. On the other hand, when the temperature during the degreasing process is higher than the above numerical range, there may be a problem in that the metallic components are partially oxidized due to the lack of a high-vacuum atmosphere.
An inert gas, such as argon, may be applied to the degreasing process in the (a).
The degreasing process in the (a) may be performed by raising the temperature to the above numerical temperature range at a heating rate of 1° C./min to 3° C./min and maintaining the same temperature for 1 to 5 hours.
The sintering in the (b) may be performed at a temperature of 900° C. to 1400° C., 950° C. to 1300° C., or 950° C. to 1150° C. When the temperature during the sintering is lower than the above numerical range, the metallic components in the composition or molded product may fail to be sintered, causing a problem in that pores are excessively large, or the rigidity is reduced. On the contrary, when the temperature during the sintering exceeds the above numerical range, the metallic components in the composition or molded products may be oxidized. Alternatively, there may be a problem in that the porous transport layer is contaminated by contaminants inside a sintering furnace. Additionally, there may be a possibility of wasting process costs and energy.
The sintering in the (b) may be performed at a vacuum level of 1×10−5 Torr or less, 1×10−8 to 1×10−5 Torr, or 1×10−7 to 5×10−6 Torr. The sintering in the (b) may be performed for 0.3 to 5 hours or 0.5 to 4 hours. By meeting the conditions described above, excessive growth and densification may be prevented from occurring during the sintering while obtaining the desired porosity and mechanical properties.
After the sintering in the (b), a process of maintaining the same vacuum level while performing furnace cooling may be included.
The method of forming the porous transport layer may enable the porous transport layer 10, described above, to be easily implemented.
Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the following Examples and Comparative Examples. However, the spirit of the present disclosure is not limited thereto.
A composition for forming a porous transport layer (PTL) was prepared. The composition contained: 35.5 wt % of titanium fiber having an average diameter (wire diameter) of 35 μm and a length corresponding to 57 times the diameter thereof, 35.5 wt % of amorphous titanium powder having an average particle size (D50) of 32 μm, 3.5 wt % of a polyvinyl butyral-based binder, 1.5 wt % of an isopropanol-based dispersant, and 24 wt % of an ethanol-based solvent.
A green sheet was formed by coating a substrate with the composition for forming the PTL through doctor blade coating such that the width, height, and thickness were 60 mm, 60 mm, and 260 μm, respectively. Then, while raising the temperature at a heating rate of 1° C./min under an argon atmosphere, a degreasing process was performed for 2 hours once the temperature reached 420° C.
Next, while raising the temperature at a heating rate of 3° C./min under a high-vacuum condition of 5×10−6 Torr, sintering was performed for 1 hour once the temperature reached 1070° C. Thereafter, the PTL was formed by performing furnace cooling while maintaining the same vacuum level.
A PTL was formed in the same manner as in Example 1, except for changing the contents of the titanium fiber and titanium powder to 46.15 wt % and 24.85 wt %, respectively.
A PTL was formed in the same manner as in Example 1, except for changing the content of the titanium powder to 71 wt % while not containing the titanium fiber.
A PTL was formed in the same manner as in Example 1, except for changing the content of the titanium fiber to 71 wt % while not containing the titanium powder.
The gas permeability, porosity, and surface roughness of the PTLs in the above examples and comparative examples were measured by the following methods. The results thereof are shown in Table 1 below.
Gas permeability: While supplying oxygen gas to the upper portion of the PTL at a pressure of 1 kgf/cm2 and connecting a decompression pump to the lower portion of the PTL to maintain the reduced pressure, pressure sensors were installed at both the upper and lower portions to observe pressure changes. Additionally, a thermal mass flow meter (MFM) was prepared at the lower portion to continuously measure the flow rate of the permeating gas to calculate gas permeability P.
P=VI/AtdP, where V, I, A, t, and dP mean gas flow rate (cm3/s), PTL thickness (cm), PTL area (cm2), permeation time (sec), and pressure difference, respectively.
Porosity: An image of the PTL was taken with a scanning electron microscope, and the pore volume fraction and porosity were measured using image analysis software (image J).
Surface roughness: The surface roughness values of a core portion with a size of 10 μm×10 μm in the PTL and nine periphery portions were measured by an atomic force microscope (AFM). Then, the average value was calculated.
From Table 1, it was confirmed that compared to the case of the comparative examples containing the single powder or single fibers, the examples containing the Ti powder and the Ti fibers in a predetermined mixing ratio achieved the desired gas permeability, porosity, and Ra roughness.
The PTLs of Example 1 and Comparative Example 1 were each independently applied to an anode layer of a water electrolysis cell to which an iridium (Ir) catalyst as the anode layer, a carbon-supported platinum (Pt/C) catalyst as a cathode layer, and Nafion 115 as a separator were applied. Then, the performance of the water electrolysis cell having a cross-sectional area of 2500 mm2 was analyzed.
In the case of applying the porous transport layer of Example 1, it was confirmed that compared to the case of the PTL of Comparative Example 1, oxygen gas generated on the surface of the anode catalyst moved smoothly at both low and high currents while the infiltration of liquid water, a reactant, was facilitated, and the mass transport resistance was low.
In the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, it should be understood that a term such as “include” or “have” is intended to designate that the features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification are present, and does not preclude the possibility of addition or presence of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, parts, or combinations thereof.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, components may be combined with each other to be implemented as one, or some components may be omitted.
The foregoing descriptions of specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present disclosure to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The exemplary embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain certain principles of the present disclosure and their practical application, to enable others skilled in the art to make and utilize various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, as well as various alternatives and modifications thereof. It is intended that the scope of the present disclosure be defined by the Claims appended hereto and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2023-0167385 | Nov 2023 | KR | national |
