Research Project
The goal of my project was to make and test the air electrode for a hydrogen fuel cell. The advantage of the hydrogen fuel cell is that it produces electricity with water as the waste product. The hydrogen fuel cell consists of two electrodes, I worked on the air electrode. The air electrode consists of Gore-tex, gold and PEDOT to reduce oxygen in the air.
The air electrode I built is based on a paper written by Bjorn Winther-Jensen et all (High Rates of Oxygen Reduction Over a Vapor Phase–Polymerized PEDOT Electrode). The electrode consists of Gore-tex, gold and PEDOT. However, I was not able to get a continuous surface so I used a Carbon Aerosol on the Gore-tex fabric before depositing Gold and PEDOT.
The layers of the electrode:
Gore-tex fabric - This layer is porous which allows oxygen molecules to travel through to the PEDOT layer. The fabric is also hydrophobic which keeps the electrolyte of the cell from going through the pores. It is used in outdoor gear and clothing.
Carbon aerosol gel - This layer helped create a continuous surface. It is also porous.
Gold - This layer makes the electrode more conductive
PEDOT - This layer speeds up the reduction of oxygen. Oxygen molecules in the air are held by the PEDOT layer in a way that increases the probability that oxygen will gain electrons coming from the other electrode.
