Chun-Tsung Hsu

Direct Growth of Cobalt Hydroxide Rods on Nickel Foam and Its Application for Energy Storage

The present work reports synthesis of cobalt hydroxide (Co(OH)2) rods on nickel foam and its supercapacitor application. Hierarchical Co(OH)2 rods with length of approximately 3.5 μm and diameter of approximately 400 nm were prepared by one-step, simple, and inexpensive chemical-bath-deposition method. The direct growth of Co(OH)2 rods on the Ni foam gave three dimensional (3D) structure for easy access of electrolyte throughout material surface. Also, well-adhered interface between Co(OH)2 rods and Ni-foam surface gave better conduction channels. Detailed electrochemical study was performed by using cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge measurements. The results demonstrate that Co(OH)2 rods on Ni foam are efficient electrodes for supercapacitor application.

An innovative process for PEMFC electrodes using the expansion of Nafion film

Swelling of a Nafion film makes it very difficult to deposit thin catalyst layers on a membrane electrolyte. In this study, a process has been developed that utilizes the expansion of Nafion film in the deposition so as to mitigate this problem. When the film is fully expanded, catalyst ink can be applied on to the membrane directly by means of spraying or blade pasting without concerns over swelling. The resulting membrane electrode assembly shows good performance relative to commercial products.