Plasma-enhanced metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (PEMOCVD) of catalytic coatings for fuel cell reformers

Fuel cells have the potential to solve several major challenges in the global energy economy: dependence on petroleum imports, degradation of air quality, and greenhouse gas emissions. Using catalyst-based reformer technology, hydrogen for fuel cells can be derived from infrastructure fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and natural gas. Platinum is one catalyst that is known to be very effective in hydrogen reformers. Reformer size can be reduced when there is more efficient catalyst loading onto the substrate. In this experimental work, platinum was loaded onto gamma-alumina coated substrates by plasma-polymerization followed by heat treatment. Vapor from a platinum-containing organic precursor was converted to plasma and deposited onto the substrate. The plasma-polymerized film was then calcined to drive off organic material, leaving behind a catalyst-loaded substrate. The plasma-polymerized organic film and the final heat-treated catalyst-loaded substrate surface were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and impedance spectroscopy. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) was used to detect the presence of the catalyst on the substrate.