The eco-friendly power generation mechanism and high energy density of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells(PEMFCs) have been steadily researched in many institutions and countries that are aiming for sustainable development and have improved to a commercially available level of performance. However, electrode production using platinum has high price and supply problem, so research is being carried out to achieve high performance using small amount Pt catalyst. In order to produce MEA that meet these requirements, this study understands the three phase boundary, which is the basis of the catalytic reaction, and aims to design an electrode layer suitable for a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell and suggest a production method.

In the conventional electrode manufacturing process, the mixed liquid slurry is used, so the ionomer is randomly distributed in the electrode layer after drying. Therefore, it was difficult to adjust to exist in the optimal position favorable to the reaction. Especially, the thick ionomer on carbon supports is located in the catalyst layer inevitably has a structure that is difficult to reach the Pt surface because the reaction gas supplied through the pores is diffused. In the case of cathodes, Pt surface is known to form a low oxygen fraction of 1/20 compared to pores, which indicates the limit of performance with high mass transfer resistance.

In this study, Ionomer was coated on a carbon support and then solidified. After that, the electrode was made by mixing with the commercial catalyst at the optimal ratio, so that the movement path of the proton and the electron could be separated independently. We are trying to suggest a new recipe to make a catalytic layer that can induce high oxygen pressure on the surface of the catalyst and introduce a pore distribution that is effective for electrochemical reactions.

In addition, the catalytic layer produced by this method was able to realize an independent path because the contact of each part was maintained well. As a result, the pores effective for electrochemical reactions were widened to achieve the performance of commercial electrodes even at a low level of 0.2mg_Pt/cm². Moreover, this method can be used to produce high-performance electrodes at a low price using a small amount of expensive platinum catalysts, and especially in the related industries, because all materials used in the manufacturing method are commercially used and do not require specially manufactured equipment.