Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells and electrochemical hydrogen pumps are based on membrane electrode assemblies containing Pt catalysts. During their preparation, a catalyst ink is usually applied to the gas diffusion layer. Among the available methods, ink spray using an airbrush can be advantageous for making electrodes at universities and companies. This work compares the suitability of gravity-feed and suction-feed airbrushes during the evaluation of in-house developed Pt and Pt–Co catalysts. The surface morphology of the catalyst layers was analysed by SEM and EDS and related to the preparation technique. The catalysts were compared against an off-the-shelf commercial catalyst. The in-house Pt catalyst afforded similar polarisation curves as the commercial catalyst whereas the Pt–Co catalyst exhibited a slightly lower performance. The suction-feed airbrush was deemed preferable because it produced cracked mud-like, homogeneous and smoother catalyst layers in contrast to the gravity-feed method, which resulted in poor-quality deposits with loose particles, lower Pt utilisation and higher resistance.

质子交换膜燃料电池和电化学氢泵基于含有Pt催化剂的膜电极组件。在其制备过程中，通常将催化剂油墨施加到气体扩散层上。在可用的方法中，使用喷枪的墨水喷射对于在大学和公司中制造电极可能是有利的。这项工作在评估内部开发的Pt和Pt-Co催化剂期间，比较了重力供气式和吸气供气式喷枪的适用性。用SEM和EDS分析了催化剂层的表面形貌，并与制备工艺有关。将催化剂与现成的商业催化剂进行了比较。内部Pt催化剂提供的极化曲线与市售催化剂相似，而Pt-Co催化剂的性能稍低。