Fig. 2: Cryo-ET reconstruction of a microtomed 3M ionomer–HSC–platinum catalyst layer and ionomer network analysis.
From: Three-dimensional nanoimaging of fuel cell catalyst layers
The catalyst layer was prepared with a 0.7 I/C weight ratio and a 19.8 wt%Pt catalyst (sample HSC7 in Supplementary Table 1). a,b, Segmented reconstruction (a) and measurements of I/C weight ratio and carbon surface coverage (b). Error bars represent the measurement error due to segmentation (see Methods). Scale cube, 203 nm3. c, A 3D map of the ionomer local thickness, and magnified images illustrating the difference in calculation to the local thickness algorithm, and a graph-based distance calculation from the external pore. Scale bar, 20 nm. d, Distribution of the ionomer thickness plotted for different sampling and calculation methods. The network thickness is sampled randomly throughout the ionomer in the local thickness map, whereas carbon and platinum coverages are sampled randomly at their respective interfaces with the ionomer in the distance-from-pore maps. The cutoff at 1.5 nm accounts for the resolution limit.
