Reconstruction of PEM fuel cell electrodes with micro- and nano-structures

Reconstruction of PEM fuel cell electrodes with micro- and nano-structures 

Ulises Cano-Castillo Romeli Barbosa-Pool 

As mentioned above, the operation of fuel cells strongly depends on processes that take place in very small regions with specific features, in the so-called catalyst layer (CL). This CL, a few tens of a micron thick, requires several features to facilitate and promote the main processes for the operation of fuel cells mass transport, electrons (negative electrical current) transfer and transport, ion transport, and even heat transport, not to mention other complex physical phenomena such as adsorption of reactants on catalyst surfaces, secondary reactions, etc. Mass transport is required as CLs are the place that both reactants and products of the electrochemical reactions in the fuel cell should reach or leave respectively. Anodic CLs need an adequate structure to allow the access of hydrogen gas (in the case of a PEMFC) and sometimes the exit of liquid water. The water comes from the cathode side due to its diffusion through the membrane or from 

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