Characterization of Gas Diffusion Layers for Electrochemical Reduction of CO2

Abstract

The gas diffusion layer, a component of a gas diffusion electrode, consists of carbon black mixed with a hydrophobic agent, which is then coated on to a macro-porous layer. In this work, the influence of the content of the hydrophobic agent, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), on the gas diffusion layer has been studied. The micro-porous layers with different PTFE loadings were characterized by contact resistance, contact angle, and thermal analysis. The results show that contact resistance and contact angle increases with PTFE content. Optimizing the fabrication of gas diffusion layer is suggested.