Coating process parameters and structural properties of the tubular electrodes of fuel cells based on a self-made coating device

Abstract

The electrode is one of the most important components of tubular direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC), and the coating process directly determines its performance. In the present research, a tubular electrode coating device was designed based on planetary gear structures, and the influence of the coating process parameters on the electrode structure's performance was studied. The experimental results show that: the coating layer on the electrode surface prepared by the self-made device is uniform and dense, and the coating surface quality is better than a manual coating. The best coating environment temperature is 30-40°C, and the coating spindle speed is 6.67 r/min. Under the condition in which Nafion 117 is used as the proton exchange membrane, the fuel cell is placed in 1 mol/L H2SO4 + 0.5 mol/L CH3OH electrolyte, and high-purity oxygen is fed at a rate of 100 mL/min, the power density of the electrode coated by the self-made device can reach 20.50 mW/cm2, which is about 2.4 times that of the electrode coated manually.