Electrodes for fuel cell and processes for producing the same
First Claim
1. An electrode for fuel cells, which comprises the following elements:
- a cation-exchange resin, carbon particles, and a catalyst metal, the catalyst metal being amorphous.
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Abstract
An electrode for a fuel cell of the invention comprises a cation-exchange resin, carbon particles and a catalyst metal which is amorphous. The electrode has high activity, a high catalyst utilization and high CO tolerance and is highly active in the electrochemical oxidation reaction of methanol. Furthermore these qualities of the electrode were extremely improved when the catalyst metal was loaded mainly on sites where the surface of the carbon particles contacts proton-conductive passages in the cation-exchange resin. Consequently, a fuel cell with the electrode of the invention has a high output current and a long life, and can be produced at low cost.
23 Citations
46 Claims
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1. An electrode for fuel cells, which comprises the following elements:
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a cation-exchange resin, carbon particles, and a catalyst metal, the catalyst metal being amorphous. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 46)
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25. An electrode for fuel cells, which comprises the following elements:
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a cation-exchange resin, carbon particles, and a catalyst metal, the catalyst metal having a mean particle diameter of 1.5 nm or lower.
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37. A process for producing an electrode for fuel cells which comprises the following steps:
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(1) a formation step in which a no-catalyzed electrode comprising a mixture of a cation-exchange resin and carbon particles is formed;
(2) an adsorption step in which the no-catalyzed electrode is immersed in a solution comprising cations containing a catalyst metal element, thereby the cations are absorbed into the cation-exchange resin based on the ion-exchange reaction of the cations with counter ions of the cation-exchange resin; and
(3) a reduction step in which the cations adsorbed into the cation-exchange resin are reduced for 10 hours or longer in a gaseous atmosphere comprising hydrogen gas resulting in formation of the catalyst metal.
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41. A process for producing an electrode for fuel cells which comprises the following steps:
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(1) a formation step in which a no-catalyzed electrode comprising a mixture of a cation-exchange resin and carbon particles is formed;
(2) an adsorption step in which the no-catalyzed electrode is immersed in a solution comprising cations containing a catalyst metal element, thereby the cations are absorbed into the cation-exchange resin based on the ion-exchange reaction of the cations with counter ions of the cation-exchange resin;
(3) a reduction step in which the cations adsorbed into the cation-exchange resin are reduced in a gaseous atmosphere comprising hydrogen gas resulting formation of the catalyst metal; and
(4) an ageing step in which the catalyst metal is aged in an acid solution or alkaline solution or a gaseous atmosphere comprising an inert gas as the main component. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45)
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Specification