Test fuel cells with reduced active area serve as central test, inspection and monitoring elements in the material development and prototype construction of components for fuel cell systems. In this way, they help to build up the hydrogen infrastructure.
Used as sensors, such cells support research, development and quality assurance under real operating conditions. As a consumable, they must be flexible in form and quantity, inexpensive to manufacture and easy to replace and handle. At present, no functionally adequate fuel cells are commercially available for such sensor tasks. Production is not a lucrative business for large companies due to high material and development costs.
In Germany, however, there is a robust infrastructure of small and medium-sized companies that can serve highly diversified markets thanks to their technological leadership. What is needed in the field of sensor cells, however, are novel manufacturing processes that are flexible in terms of form factors and quantities. Only in this way is it possible to develop and manufacture such cells under realistic cost scenarios for as many different applications as possible.
In this project, which has now been launched, the ZBT is developing such a flexible manufacturing process together with the Forschungsinstitut für Edelmetalle und Metallchemie (fem) – Research Institute for Precious Metals and Metal Chemistry – and the Institute of Microstructure Technology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (IMT-KIT) in order to be able to produce different test and sensor cells. A combination of 3D printing and electroplating technology is leading the way here.
In 3D printing as a mouldless approach, there are already initial processes for producing components suitable for fuel cells. Now a post-processing and electroplating process is to be developed with which the 3D-printed products made of plastic can be supplemented with defined, electrically conductive areas.
Assembled as sensor cells, we will then operate these functional samples on test chambers for the material development of fuel cell technology in order to observe their voltage signals as a function of possible harmful gas influences. In this way, a proof-of-concept for the new process will be demonstrated.
Project partners:
- Forschungsinstitut für Edelmetalle und Metallchemie (fem)
- Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT-KIT)
AiF projekt informations:
- IGF-project-Nr.: 22754 N
- Short topic: Sensorzelle
- Projekt periode: 1 January 2023 - 31 December 2024
