Patent ID: 7316794

Claim:
A process for manufacturing a catalyst coated membrane comprising: (a) providing a dimensionally stable temporary support having a surface; (b) flexographically printing at least one electrocatalyst coating composition on at least a portion of the surface of the dimensionally stable temporary support; (c) drying the electrocatalyst coating composition on the temporary support to form at least one first electrode on the temporary support; (d) flexographically printing at least one additional layer of at least one electrocatalyst coating composition on the first electrode and drying said additional layers of electrocatalyst coating composition so as to increase the thickness of the first electrode; (e) applying a polymeric solution or dispersion to the at least one first electrode on the temporary support; (f) drying the polymeric solution or dispersion to form a polymer membrane having a first and a second surface, wherein the first surface of the polymer membrane is adjacent to the first electrode; (g) flexographically printing at least one electrocatalyst coating composition on at least a portion of the second surface of the polymer membrane; (h) drying the electrocatalyst coating composition on the second surface of the polymer membrane so as to form at least one second electrode adjacent to the second surface of the polymer membrane so as to yield a catalyst coated membrane comprising a polymer membrane sandwiched between the first and second electrodes; (i) flexographically printing at least one additional layer of at least one electrocatalyst coating composition on the second electrode and drying said additional layer of electrocatalyst coating composition so as to increase the thickness of the second electrode; and (j) removing the temporary support from the first electrode at a time after the formation of the polymer membrane.