{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/92593"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/92593","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Analysis of Ionomer-coated Carbon Nanofiber for use in PEM Fuel Cell Catalyst Layers","abstract":"The typical catalyst layer structure for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells has changed little over the last two decades. A new electrode design with improved control over factors such as ionic and electrical pathways, porosity, and catalyst placement, could allow the application of less expensive catalyst alternatives. In this work, a novel electrode design based on ionomer-coated carbon nanofibers is proposed and studied. Governing equations for this design were established, and a mathematical model was created and solved using MATLAB to predict the performance of the new electrode design. A parametric study was performed to identify the design variables that had the most significant effect on performance. The best performing catalyst layer design studied with this model produces a current density of 1.1 A cm-2 at 600 mV which is better than state-of-the-art cathode designs. The results offer insight into the performance of ionomer-coated carbon nanofiber catalyst layers and can guide the fabrication and testing of these promising catalyst layer structures.","abstract_html":"The typical catalyst layer structure for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells has changed little over the last two decades. A new electrode design with improved control over factors such as ionic and electrical pathways, porosity, and catalyst placement, could allow the application of less expensive catalyst alternatives. In this work, a novel electrode design based on ionomer-coated carbon nanofibers is proposed and studied. Governing equations for this design were established, and a mathematical model was created and solved using MATLAB to predict the performance of the new electrode design. A parametric study was performed to identify the design variables that had the most significant effect on performance. The best performing catalyst layer design studied with this model produces a current density of 1.1 A cm-2 at 600 mV which is better than state-of-the-art cathode designs. The results offer insight into the performance of ionomer-coated carbon nanofiber catalyst layers and can guide the fabrication and testing of these promising catalyst layer structures.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Garrabrant, Austin Joseph"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Mechanical Engineering","degree_department":"Mechanical Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Ellis, Michael W."],"committee_members":["Moore, Robert Bowen","von Spakovsky, Michael R."],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-07-31","date_published":"2019-07-31","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:37Z","subjects":["PEMFC","Fuel Cell","cathode design","electrode","carbon nanofiber"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:21491"],"render_values":[{"text":"vt_gsexam:21491","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/92593","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Ellis, Michael W."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Moore, Robert Bowen","von Spakovsky, Michael R."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Garrabrant, Austin Joseph"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2019-08-01T08:00:45Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-08-01T08:00:45Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2019-07-31"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["PEMFC","Fuel Cell","cathode design","electrode","carbon nanofiber"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:21491"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/92593"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The typical catalyst layer structure for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells has changed little over the last two decades. A new electrode design with improved control over factors such as ionic and electrical pathways, porosity, and catalyst placement, could allow the application of less expensive catalyst alternatives. In this work, a novel electrode design based on ionomer-coated carbon nanofibers is proposed and studied. Governing equations for this design were established, and a mathematical model was created and solved using MATLAB to predict the performance of the new electrode design. A parametric study was performed to identify the design variables that had the most significant effect on performance. The best performing catalyst layer design studied with this model produces a current density of 1.1 A cm-2 at 600 mV which is better than state-of-the-art cathode designs. The results offer insight into the performance of ionomer-coated carbon nanofiber catalyst layers and can guide the fabrication and testing of these promising catalyst layer structures."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstractgeneral","label":"General Abstract","values":["Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells have the potential to replace traditional energy conversion systems in many applications, however their widespread adoption is currently limited by their high cost and insufficient durability. PEM fuel cells are expensive because they require the use of platinum as a catalyst. Currently, less expensive non-platinum catalysts, must be used in much higher amounts in the catalyst layer to achieve similar electrochemical activity, creating very thick catalyst layers. Traditional fuel cell catalyst layer structures are designed to be thin and perform poorly when thick enough to accommodate non-platinum catalysts. This work proposes a novel catalyst layer design based on ionomer-coated carbon nanofibers that can allow for thicker catalyst layers and much higher catalyst loadings. A mathematical model was developed for the novel catalyst layer based on first principles. The model was solved using MATLAB to predict the performance of the new catalyst layer design. A parametric study was performed to identify the critical design variables and their effect on catalyst layer performance. The best performing catalyst layer design studied with this model produced a current density of 1.1 A cm-2 at 600mV, which is better than state-of-the-art fuel cell designs. This work is meant to offer insight into the performance of an ionomer-coated nanofiber catalyst layer and to guide future research in the fabrication of high performance fuel cells based on this novel catalyst layer architecture."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["ETD"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Analysis of Ionomer-coated Carbon Nanofiber for use in PEM Fuel Cell Catalyst Layers"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Ellis, Michael W."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Moore, Robert Bowen","von Spakovsky, Michael R."],"dc:contributor.department":["Mechanical Engineering"],"dc:creator":["Garrabrant, Austin Joseph"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2019-08-01T08:00:45Z"],"dc:date.available":["2019-08-01T08:00:45Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2019-07-31"],"dc:description.abstract":["The typical catalyst layer structure for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells has changed little over the last two decades. A new electrode design with improved control over factors such as ionic and electrical pathways, porosity, and catalyst placement, could allow the application of less expensive catalyst alternatives. In this work, a novel electrode design based on ionomer-coated carbon nanofibers is proposed and studied. Governing equations for this design were established, and a mathematical model was created and solved using MATLAB to predict the performance of the new electrode design. A parametric study was performed to identify the design variables that had the most significant effect on performance. The best performing catalyst layer design studied with this model produces a current density of 1.1 A cm-2 at 600 mV which is better than state-of-the-art cathode designs. The results offer insight into the performance of ionomer-coated carbon nanofiber catalyst layers and can guide the fabrication and testing of these promising catalyst layer structures."],"dc:description.abstractgeneral":["Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells have the potential to replace traditional energy conversion systems in many applications, however their widespread adoption is currently limited by their high cost and insufficient durability. PEM fuel cells are expensive because they require the use of platinum as a catalyst. Currently, less expensive non-platinum catalysts, must be used in much higher amounts in the catalyst layer to achieve similar electrochemical activity, creating very thick catalyst layers. Traditional fuel cell catalyst layer structures are designed to be thin and perform poorly when thick enough to accommodate non-platinum catalysts. This work proposes a novel catalyst layer design based on ionomer-coated carbon nanofibers that can allow for thicker catalyst layers and much higher catalyst loadings. A mathematical model was developed for the novel catalyst layer based on first principles. The model was solved using MATLAB to predict the performance of the new catalyst layer design. A parametric study was performed to identify the critical design variables and their effect on catalyst layer performance. The best performing catalyst layer design studied with this model produced a current density of 1.1 A cm-2 at 600mV, which is better than state-of-the-art fuel cell designs. This work is meant to offer insight into the performance of an ionomer-coated nanofiber catalyst layer and to guide future research in the fabrication of high performance fuel cells based on this novel catalyst layer architecture."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Science"],"dc:format.medium":["ETD"],"dc:identifier.other":["vt_gsexam:21491"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/92593"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["PEMFC","Fuel Cell","cathode design","electrode","carbon nanofiber"],"dc:title":["Analysis of Ionomer-coated Carbon Nanofiber for use in PEM Fuel Cell Catalyst Layers"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Mechanical Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:37Z"}