Collector member, power generator, and method of manufacturing collector member for power generator

Abstract

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a collector member 10 comprising a sheet-shaped base material 11 having a carbon-containing fiber 11a and catalyst particles 12 adhered to an outer periphery of the fiber 11a, containing a noble metal or an alloy thereof, and having an average particle diameter of 0.1 to 2 μm.

Description

FIELD[0001]The present invention relates to a collector member, a power generator using the collector member, and a method of manufacturing a collector member for a power generator.BACKGROUND[0002]Noble metals such as Pt are used as chemical catalysts instead of being used in accessories. For example, the noble metals are used in an exhaust emission control system of a vehicle and a solid polymer fuel cell, for example. Particularly, a methanol type solid polymer fuel cell using a methanol solution as a fuel can be operated at low temperature, and, at the same time, since the size and weight are small, the methanol type solid polymer fuel cell has been actively studied recently for the purpose of being applied to a power supply of a mobile apparatus and the like.[0003]Thus, it has been considered to add other elements to PtRu for the purpose of improving methanol oxidation activity. In a solution technique such as a dipping method generally used in catalyst synthesis, a metal desire...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0019]According to the collector member according to an aspect of the present invention, the collector member according to another aspect, and the method of manufacturing a collector member for a power generator according to another aspect, a collector member having a highly active catalyst particles or catalyst layer can be provided. Further, according to the power generator according to another aspect of the present invention, a high-performance power generator can be provided.

Problems solved by technology

Since the catalyst obtained by being sputtered directly on the carbon paper is adhered as a film to a surface of a fiber constituting the carbon paper as shown in FIG. 21, an active surface area is small, and there is a problem that a high output cannot be obtained.

Although water is essential at an anode, if the catalyst layer is thin, the amount of water required for power generation cannot be held in the catalyst layer, so that a satisfactory performance may not be obtained.

Therefore, the surface area of the catalyst is small, and there is a problem that the power generation performance is reduced.

Consequently, since the effective catalyst adhesion area is reduced, a sufficient amount of catalyst cannot be supported, and a high power generation performance cannot be obtained.

Further, in the carbon fiber grown by the CVD method, since the mechanical strength and the adhesion strength with a base material are weak, there is such a problem that the catalyst is easily dropped in the process after the catalyst is physically evaporated.

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