Patent ID: 7858266

Claim:
A catalyst ink composition for a fuel cell electrode, comprising: a plurality of electrically conductive support particles; a catalyst formed from a finely divided precious metal, the catalyst supported by the conductive support particles; an ionomer; at least one solvent; and a reinforcing material configured to bridge and distribute stresses across the electrically conductive support particles of the ink composition upon a drying thereof, the reinforcing material substantially evenly distributed throughout the catalyst ink composition, and wherein the reinforcing material is a polymeric fiber and the polymeric fiber is fibrillated, the fiber having a diameter larger than a diameter of a carbon nanotube, and a length sufficient for the fiber to bridge between at least two of the conductive support particles, wherein the fiber has a surface modified to increase at least one of a physical entanglement and a chemical adhesion of the reinforcing material with at least one of the conductive support particles and the ionomer, wherein the reinforcing material does not support the catalyst, wherein individual fibers of the reinforcing material have a tensile modulus at least one order of magnitude greater than a tensile modulus of the dried ink composition without the reinforcing material, and wherein the reinforcing material and the conductive support particles form a substantially continuous matrix upon the drying of the catalyst ink composition that militates against a formation of a network of cracks in the dried catalyst ink composition.