Search

US-20260126374-A1 - METHOD FOR DETERMINING FLATNESS OF CATALYST COATED MEMBRANE (CCM) AND METHOD FOR OBTAINING CCM

US20260126374A1US 20260126374 A1US20260126374 A1US 20260126374A1US-20260126374-A1

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method for obtaining a catalyst coated membrane (CCM), including obtaining a friction coefficient of a material to be tested, identifying whether the friction coefficient is within a range from 0.1 to 15 or not, and if so, using the material to be tested in a CCM manufacturing process to obtain the CCM, wherein the flatness of the CCM and the friction coefficient of the material to be tested are positively correlated.

Inventors

  • Kuang-Che LEE
  • Chia-Hung Li
  • CHUN-HSIEN TSAI

Assignees

  • TAIWAN CARBON NANO TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20241107

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A method for determining a flatness of a catalyst coated membrane (CCM), wherein the CCM comprises a material to be tested, and the method comprises: performing a friction testing for the material to be tested to obtain a friction coefficient of the material to be tested; comparing the friction coefficient to decide whether the friction coefficient falls into a predetermined range from 0.1 to 15; and determining the flatness of the CCM containing the material to be tested based on a decision whether the friction coefficient falls within the predetermined range, wherein the flatness of the CCM and the friction coefficient of the material to be tested are positively correlated.
  2. 2 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the CCM comprises a polymeric membrane and at least one catalyst layer, and the material to be tested is used to combine with the at least one catalyst layer in the CCM.
  3. 3 . The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the polymeric membrane is a perfluorosulfonic acid ion-exchange membrane.
  4. 4 . The method as claimed in claim 2 , further comprising: performing a manufacturing test for the material to be tested under the condition that the friction coefficient falls within the predetermined range, wherein the manufacturing test comprises the following steps: coating a first catalyst layer on a first surface of the polymeric membrane; arranging the material to be tested on the first catalyst layer; providing a pressure on the first catalyst layer where the material to be tested is arranged thereon to allow the material to be tested to combine with the first catalyst layer; coating a second catalyst layer on a second surface of the polymeric membrane to obtain a double-sided CCM; and confirming the flatness of the double-sided CCM.
  5. 5 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the predetermined range is in a range from 1 to 15.
  6. 6 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the predetermined range is in a range from 5 to 15.
  7. 7 . A method for obtaining a catalyst coated membrane (CCM) having a flatness, comprising: performing a friction testing for a material to be tested to obtain a friction coefficient of the material to be tested; and using the material to be tested in a CCM manufacturing process if the friction coefficient ranges from 0.1 to 15, wherein the flatness of the CCM and the friction coefficient of the material to be tested are positively correlated.
  8. 8 . The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the material to be tested is one selected from a group consisting of a silicon, a rubber, a silicon rubber, a polymer and a combination thereof.
  9. 9 . The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the friction coefficient is a static friction coefficient.
  10. 10 . The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the CCM is a double-sided CCM, and the material to be tested combines with at least one catalyst layer in the double-sided CCM to enhance the flatness of the double-sided CCM.
  11. 11 . The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the CCM manufacturing process is one selected from a group consisting of a direct coating, an ultrasonic spray method and a vacuum adsorption.
  12. 12 . The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the CCM manufacturing process is a manufacturing process performed under normal temperature.
  13. 13 . A method for obtaining a catalyst coated membrane (CCM) having a flatness, comprising: obtaining a friction coefficient of a material to be tested; identifying whether the friction coefficient is within a range from 0.1 to 15 or not; and if so, using the material to be tested in a CCM manufacturing process to obtain the CCM, wherein the flatness of the CCM and the friction coefficient of the material to be tested are positively correlated.
  14. 14 . The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the material to be tested is one selected from a group consisting of a silicon, a rubber, a silicon rubber, a polymer and a combination thereof.
  15. 15 . The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the friction coefficient is obtained by performing a friction testing for the material to be tested.
  16. 16 . The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the friction coefficient is obtained from one of a database and a product manual.
  17. 17 . The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the friction coefficient is a static friction coefficient.
  18. 18 . The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the CCM is a double-sided CCM, and the material to be tested combines with at least one catalyst layer in the double-sided CCM to enhance the flatness of the double-sided CCM.
  19. 19 . The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the CCM manufacturing process is one selected from a group consisting of a direct coating, an ultrasonic spray method and a vacuum adsorption.
  20. 20 . The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the CCM manufacturing process is a manufacturing process performed under normal temperature.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is related to a method for determining the flatness of a CCM and a method for obtaining the CCM. In particular, the present invention is related to a method for obtaining a flat CCM according to a friction coefficient of a material. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A fuel cell is an energy conversion device that can directly convert chemical energy stored in hydrogen fuel and oxidant into electrical energy through electrochemical reactions. Fuel cells have the characteristics of high energy conversion efficiency and no waste gas emissions, and they are considered to be one of the most promising solutions to solve the energy crisis and environmental pollution issues. Fuel cells have great application prospects especially in transportation (such as cars, ships and backup power supplies). Because of these outstanding characteristics, the development and application of fuel cell technologies has attracted much attention from governments and enterprises around the world. Catalyst coated membrane (CCM) in a fuel cell is one of the important components in the fuel cell, and the main preparation method therefor is to coat a catalyst slurry on a polymeric membrane and dry the coated polymeric membrane to form the CCM. When coating catalyst slurry on both sides of the polymeric membrane, the solvents used in most catalysts are alcohols (such as methanol, ethanol, propanol, isopropyl alcohol, n-propanol or glycerin, etc.) and most polymeric membranes are perfluorosulfonic acid membranes. Therefore, when a catalyst is coated on the polymeric membrane, the presence of alcohol solvents will cause the polymeric membrane to swell, which affects the quality of the polymeric membrane. Among existing CCM preparation methods, how to ensure the surface uniformity and flatness of CCM has always been one of the key research and development technologies in this field. Although there are many preparation methods for CCM (such as transfer printing method, roll-to-roll (R2R) coating method, brushing method, ultrasonic spray method and vacuum adsorption), these methods need to be carried out under various preparation limitations, resulting in their respective shortcomings, which means that the problems of CCM swelling and deformation have not yet been completely solved today. The problem of CCM swelling and deformation should be solved, and it is desired to obtain a flat CCM under the lowest preparation limitation and effectively improve the quality of the CCM. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method for determining the flatness of a CCM and a method for obtaining the CCM. The friction coefficient of the material to be tested is used as a basis for determining the flatness of the CCM, and the material with a high friction coefficient is applied to a CCM manufacturing process, thereby a flat CCM can be obtained. In one aspect, the present invention discloses a method for determining the flatness of a CCM, wherein the CCM includes a material to be tested, and the method includes: performing a friction testing for the material to be tested to obtain a friction coefficient of the material to be tested, comparing the friction coefficient to decide whether the friction coefficient falls into a predetermined range from 0.1 to 15, and determining the flatness of the CCM containing the material to be tested based on a decision whether the friction coefficient falls within the predetermined range, wherein the flatness of the CCM and the friction coefficient of the material to be tested are positively correlated. In another aspect, the present invention discloses a method for obtaining a catalyst coated membrane (CCM) having a flatness, including: performing a friction testing for a material to be tested to obtain a friction coefficient of the material to be tested, and using the material to be tested in a CCM manufacturing process if the friction coefficient ranges from 0.1 to 15, wherein the flatness of the CCM and the friction coefficient of the material to be tested are positively correlated. The present invention further discloses a method for obtaining a catalyst coated membrane (CCM) having a flatness, including: obtaining a friction coefficient of a material to be tested, identifying whether the friction coefficient is within a range from 0.1 to 15 or not, and if so, using the material to be tested in a CCM manufacturing process to obtain the CCM, wherein the flatness of the CCM and the friction coefficient of the material to be tested are positively correlated. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The objectives and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed descriptions and accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a CCM in the prior art. FIG. 2 is a flow chart according to the method for determining the flatness of the CCM of the present invention. FIG.