1. A method for preparing an electrode catalyst for a fuel cell, the method comprising the steps of:
(S1) evaporating a platinum precursor and an organic precursor for formation of a carbon framework in their evaporators;
(S2) supplying each of the evaporated platinum precursor and organic precursor to a reactor by carrier gas in a non-contact state; and
(S3) heating the reactor, and then maintaining the reactor at a constant temperature to synthesize a platinum-carbon composite having a core-shell structure.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the platinum precursor is selected from the group consisting of (trimethyl)methylcyclopentadienyl platinum, platinum(II) acetylactonate, tetrakis(trifluorophosphine) platinum(0), tetrakis(triphenylphosphine) platinum(0), platinum(II) hexafluoroacetylacetonate, trimethyl(methylcyclopentadienyl) platinum(IV), and (1,5-cyclooctadiene)dimethyl platinum(II).
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the organic precursor for formation of the carbon framework is selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, acetone, benzene, toluene and xylene.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the organic precursor for formation of the carbon framework is methane or acetylene.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the carrier gas is oxygen, hydrogen, argon, helium or nitrogen gas.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the evaporated precursors in step S2 are maintained at temperatures near the boiling points thereof.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the reactor in step S3 is heated at a temperature of 300\xb0 C. or above.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the platinum precursor and the organic precursor are supplied to the reactor in step S3 in a state in which the ratio of the flow rate of the platinum precursor to the flow rate of the organic precursor is in the range from 0.2 to 10.
9. A method for preparing a fuel cell electrode, the method comprising the steps of:
(S1) placing a support in a reactor;
(S2) evaporating platinum precursor and an organic precursor for formation of a carbon framework in their evaporators;
(S3) supplying each of the evaporated platinum precursor and organic precursor to the reactor, which has the support placed therein, by carrier gas in a non-contact state; and
(S4) heating the reactor, and then maintaining the reactor at a constant temperature to synthesize a platinum-carbon composite supported on the support.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the support is carbon paper.
11. The method of claim 9, wherein the platinum precursor is selected from the group consisting of (trimethyl)methylcyclopentadienyl platinum, platinum(II) acetylactonate, tetrakis(trifluorophosphine) platinum(0), tetrakis(triphenylphosphine) platinum(0), platinum(II) hexafluoroacetylacetonate, trimethyl(methylcyclopentadienyl) platinum(IV), and (1,5-cyclooctadiene)dimethyl platinum(II).
12. The method of claim 9, wherein the organic precursor for formation of the carbon framework is selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, acetone, benzene, toluene and xylene.
13. The method of claim 9, wherein the organic precursor for formation of the carbon framework is methane or acetylene.
14. The method of claim 9, wherein the carrier gas is oxygen, hydrogen, argon, helium or nitrogen gas.
15. The method of claim 9, wherein the evaporated precursors in step S3 are maintained at temperatures near the boiling points thereof.
16. The method of claim 9, wherein the reactor in step S4 is heated at a temperature of 300\xb0 C. or above.
17. The method of claim 9, wherein the platinum precursor and the organic precursor are supplied to the reactor in step S4 in a state in which the ratio of the flow rate of the platinum precursor to the flow rate of the organic precursor is in the range from 0.2 to 10.
18. A fuel cell comprising an anode, a cathode and a polymer electrolyte, each of the anode and the cathode being composed of a support, a diffusion layer and a catalyst layer, which are sequentially stacked in that order, wherein the catalyst layer of at least one of the anode and the cathode is composed of a platinum-carbon composite having a core-shell structure.
19. The fuel cell of claim 18, wherein the platinum-carbon composite having the core-shell structure is prepared by evaporating a platinum precursor and an organic precursor for formation of a carbon framework in their evaporators, supplying each of the evaporated platinum precursor and organic precursor to a reactor by carrier gas in a non-contact state, heating the reactor, and then maintaining the reactor at a constant temperature to synthesize the platinum-carbon composite having the core-shell structure.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of using a soft photopolymer plate in a printing process to decorate an exterior surface of a metallic container, comprising:
providing a first image to be printed onto the exterior surface of the metallic container;
transferring said first image to a predetermined portion of a face portion of the soft photopolymer plate;
removably affixing the soft photopolymer plate with a transferred first image onto a blanket cylinder of a decorator;
attaching printing plates to a plate cylinder of the decorator;
applying ink from an inker to the printing plates;
transferring the ink from the printing plates to at least a portion of the soft photopolymer plate and the transferred first image; and
transferring the ink from the soft photopolymer plate to the exterior surface of the metallic container, wherein the metallic container is decorated with the first image.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein transferring the first image to the predetermined portion of the face portion of the soft photopolymer plate further comprises:
creating a film negative of the first image;
placing the film negative on the predetermined portion of the face portion of the soft photopolymer plate;
exposing the soft photopolymer plate and the film negative to a light source, wherein a material of the soft photopolymer plate hardens in predetermined locations where light passes through the film negative, and wherein the material of the photopolymer plate remains unexposed and soft in predetermined locations where the light is blocked by the film negative;
removing the film negative from the soft photopolymer plate; and
placing the soft photopolymer plate in a washing station and cleaning the soft photopolymer plate to remove the soft, unexposed material of the soft photopolymer plate to reveal the transferred first image.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the light source is an ultraviolet light source.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the soft photopolymer plate and the film negative are exposed to the light source for from about 0.01 minute to about 10 minutes.
5. The method of claim 2, wherein the washing station uses at least one of a water and a solvent to clean the soft photopolymer plate.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the printing plates include a second image to be printed onto the exterior surface of the metallic container, and wherein the metallic container is decorated with the first image and the second image.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising etching or engraving the face portion of the soft photopolymer plate to form one or more recessed portions.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the soft photopolymer plate is comprised of one of elastomers which are cured using a light-catalyzed photopolymerization process, chloroprene crosslinked with trimethylolpropane triacrylate, and styrene-isoprene rubber with a polyacrylate, and wherein after the first image is transferred to the soft photopolymer plate, the soft photopolymer plate has a hardness of between about 40 durometers and about 110 durometers.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the metallic container has a cylindrical shape.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the transferred first image on the soft photopolymer plate has a depth of from about 0.0009 inch to about 0.089 inch.
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
removably affixing from about 8 to about 12 soft photopolymer plates onto the blanket cylinder, wherein the about 8 to the about 12 soft photopolymer plates each have different images, and wherein ink transferred from the about 8 to the about 12 soft photopolymer plates produces 8 to 12 different images on about 8 to about 12 metallic containers.
12. An apparatus for forming a high-definition lithographic image on an exterior surface of a metallic container, comprising:
at least one plate cylinder with an inker, the inker operable to transfer ink to predetermined portions of one or more printing plates attached to a circumference of the at least one plate cylinder;
a blanket cylinder, the blanket cylinder having one or more soft photopolymer plates affixed to a circumference of the blanket cylinder, the blanket cylinder operable to move the soft photopolymer plates into rotational contact with a printing plate attached to the at least one plate cylinder, wherein ink is transferred from the predetermined portions of the printing plate to at least a portion of the soft photopolymer plates, and wherein the soft photopolymer plates each have an image formed thereon; and
a support cylinder, the support cylinder including a plurality of stations adapted to receive metallic containers, the support cylinder operable to receive the metallic container from a conveyor and move the metallic container into contact with a soft photopolymer plate affixed to the blanket cylinder, wherein ink is transferred from the soft photopolymer plate to the metallic container to form the high-definition lithographic image on the exterior surface of the metallic container.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the at least one plate cylinder and the support cylinder rotate in a first direction, and wherein the blanket cylinder rotates in an opposite second direction.
14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein from about 8 to about 12 soft photopolymer plates are affixed to the circumference of the blanket cylinder.
15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein each of the soft photopolymer plates has a different image formed thereon, and wherein each of the different images are formed by creating a film negative of each different image, placing the film negatives on predetermined portions of the soft photopolymer plates, exposing the soft photopolymer plates and the film negatives to a light source, removing the film negatives from the soft photopolymer plates, and washing the soft photopolymer plates to remove unexposed soft material of the soft photopolymer plates to reveal the different images.
16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein each of the different images are formed in a same location on each of the soft photopolymer plates.
17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein only one of the printing plates attached to the at least one plate cylinder transfers ink to the different images formed on each of the soft photopolymer plates, and wherein the other printing plates attached to the at least one plate cylinder transfer ink to other predetermined portions of each of the soft photopolymer plates.
18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the one of the printing plates has an area aligning with and operable to transfer ink to the different images on each of the soft photopolymer plates, wherein the other printing plates have a relief area aligning with the different images on each of the soft photopolymer plates, and wherein the relief area will not transfer ink to the different images.
19. A soft photopolymer plate adapted to form a high-definition lithographic image on an exterior surface of a metallic container in a printing process, the soft photopolymer plate comprising:
a plate body of a predetermined size and hardness, the plate body having a face portion and a back portion, wherein the back portion is adapted to be attached to a blanket cylinder of a decorator;
an image formed on the face portion, wherein the image is formed by creating a film negative of the image, placing the film negative on a predetermined portion of the face portion, exposing the face portion and the film negative to a light source, removing the film negative from the face portion, and cleaning the soft photopolymer plate to remove unexposed soft material from the face portion.
20. The soft photopolymer plate of claim 18, wherein after the image is formed on the face portion, the soft photopolymer plate has a hardness of from about 40 durometers to about 110 durometers, and wherein the plate body is from about 0.04 inch to about 0.1 inch thick.