ADVANCED TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY CHARACTERIZATION FOR CATALYST NANOPARTICLES USING LOCAL ADAPTIVE THRESHOLD (LAT) IMAGE PROCESSING

摘要

Fuel cells (FCs) have in general a complex electrode structure, consisting usually of a catalyst, a support material and a polymer electrolyte. Due to their largely amorphous appearance, these materials have a quite defective structure and/or have nanoparticles (NPs) with diameters ranging from a few nanometers down to sub-manometer region. This leads to the formation of highly disordered aggregated structures in the electrode. Therefore, both aspects complicatea systematic structural analysis significantly. However, a thorough knowledge of the electrode structure is needed for a systematic advancement of fuel cell technology and to obtain a better understanding of mass and charge carrier transport processes in the electrode.