A Method to Produce a Gas Diffusion Layer and a Fuel Cell Comprising a Gas Diffusion Layer

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This patent describes a method for manufacturing gas diffusion layers (GDLs) for fuel cells that have precisely engineered patterns of hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions. The process involves coating electrically conductive porous materials like carbon fiber with Fluoroethylene-Propylene (FEP), then selectively irradiating parts of the material through a mask, followed by grafting of hydrophilic polymers only in the irradiated regions. The resulting GDL can control the flow of water and gases more effectively within the fuel cell, enhancing performance and potentially enabling new humidification and cooling strategies without adding extra components.

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• Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells for automotive, stationary, and portable applications
• Electrolyzers for hydrogen production
• Humidification and evaporation cooling systems in fuel cells and electrolyzers
• Advanced microfluidic devices requiring controlled wettability in porous materials
• Medical devices such as dialysis machines needing materials with selective wettability
• Battery or electrochemical cell separators with improved fluid management

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Improved control of water and gas transport in fuel cells, leading to higher efficiency and reliability
• Potential elimination of bulky, expensive external humidification and cooling systems in fuel cells
• Enhanced durability due to strong covalent bonding of grafted hydrophilic compounds
• Greater design flexibility, enabling custom patterns of wettability not possible with traditional perforation methods
• Cost-effective manufacturing using industrially available irradiation methods and low-cost chemicals (FEP, acrylic acid, etc.)
• Potential reductions in system size and weight, especially valuable for automotive applications
• Applicability to a wide range of electrically conductive or porous materials, not limited to carbon fiber

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Patent Abstract

The present invention discloses a method of manufacturing gas diffusion layers (GDL) with a defined pattern of hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions. In detail, a method method to produce electrically conductive porous materials for use as gas diffusion layer with distributed wettability, comprising the steps of: (a) Coating the external and internal surfaces of a porous material made of carbon fiber with Fluoroethylene-Propylene (FEP); (b) Exposing such coated material to irradiation, such as an electron beam or photon beam, through a blocking mask such that only parts of the coated porous material are exposed; (c) Immersing such previously exposed material in a monomer solution and heating to a temperature higher than 45°C, resulting in the graft co-polymerization of monomers on the FEP layer.