Electrode composite material

1. An electrically conducting composite material comprising:

an electrically conducting porous base material;

a noble metal catalyst loaded onto said porous base material thereby forming an electrically conducting catalytic porous base material;

hygroscopic particles coated with a proton-conducting polymer wherein said coated hygroscopic particles are incorporated into said electrically conducting catalytic porous base material to form said electrically conducting composite material.

2. The electrically conducting composite material according to claim 1 , wherein said noble metal catalyst is selected from the group consisting of platinum, platinum-ruthenium, gold, iridium, osmium, silver, tantalum, rhodium and ruthenium.

3. The electrically conducting composite material according to claim 1 , wherein said electrically conducting porous base material is selected from the group consisting of graphite, carbon, and metal foam.

4. The electrically conducting composite material according to claim 1 , wherein said electrically conducting catalytic porous base material comprises platinum loaded on carbon particles.

5. The electrically conducting composite material according to claim 1 , wherein the average diameter of the pores of said electrically conducting catalytic porous base material is in the range of about 50 nm to about 2 μm.

6. The electrically conducting composite material according to claim 1 , wherein said coated hygroscopic particles have an average diameter in the nanometer range (nano-particle).

7. The electrically conducting composite material according to claim 6 , wherein said average diameter of said hygroscopic particles is in the range of about 5 nm to about 1 μm.

8. The electrically conducting composite material according to claim 7 , wherein said average diameter of said hygroscopic particles is in the range of about 25 to about 35 nm.

9. The electrically conducting composite material according to claim 1 , wherein said hygroscopic particles comprises a material selected from the group consisting of sodium formate, sodium ethyl sulfate, magnesium acetate, silicon oxide, titanium oxide, chromium oxide, zinc chloride, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, lithium chloride, calcium bromide, potassium biphosphate, potassium acetate, phosphorous oxide, ammonium acetate, sodium acetate, sodium silicate, potassium silicate, magnesium sulfate, magnesium oxide, calcium oxide, cerium oxide, silicon oxide zeolite, zirconia, tungsten trioxide, barium oxide, cobalt chloride, bentonite, montmorillonite clay, silica gel, molecular sieve, monohydric compounds, polyhydric compounds, metal nitrate salt, sodium ethyl sulfate organic salt, polyethylene glycol, and combinations thereof.

10. The electrically conducting composite material according to claim 1 , wherein said hygroscopic particles comprise a metal oxide or mixtures of metal oxides.

11. The electrically conducting composite material according to claim 10 , wherein said hygroscopic particles comprise silica or titanium oxide or ZrO 2 .

12. The electrically conducting composite material according to claim 1 , wherein said proton-conducting polymer is selected from the group consisting of a polymer represented by the formula (I):

where x and y are integers selected from 1 to 100,000, m is an integer selected from 0 to 10 and R is a functional group selected from the group consisting of H, F, Cl, Br, I, and CH 3 ; a copolymer of said proton-conducting polymer represented by formula (I), a blend of said proton-conducting polymer represented by formula (I) with a second polymer and combinations thereof.

13. The electrically conducting composite material according to claim 1 , wherein said proton-conducting polymer is characterized by comprising a structure having a fluorinated backbone which has recurring pendant groups attached thereto and represented by the general formula (II):

—O(CFR f ′) b —(CFR f ) a —SO 3 H

where a=0 to 3, b=0 to 3, a+b=at least 1, R f and R f ′ are independently selected from the group consisting of a halogen and a substantially fluorinated alkyl group having one or more carbon atoms; its copolymer, its blend with a second polymer and combinations thereof.

14. The electrically conducting composite material according to claim 1 , wherein said proton-conducting polymer comprises a repeating unit represented by the following formula (III):

where a is 0, 1, or 2, b is 2 or 3, x and y are positive integer numbers and x/y ratio is of 10 or less; its copolymer, its blend with a second polymer and combinations thereof.

15. The electrically conducting composite material according to claim 1 , wherein said proton-conducting polymer is selected from the group consisting of a perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) represented by the formula

polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), sulfonated polysulfone, sulfonated poly(ether sulfone), poly(vinylidene)fluoride (PVDF), Poly(vinylidene)fluoride-chloro tetrafluoro ethylene, (PVDF-chlorotrifluoroethylene (CTFE) copolymer, poly(ethylene glycol), poly(ethylene glycol)/(4-dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid (PEG)/(DBSA), sulfonated styrene-(ethylene-butylene)-sulfonated styrene (SEBSS), poly-(ethyleneoxide)s (PEO), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), poly-vinylidene fluoride/poly-acrylonitrile (PVDF/PAN), PVDF-g-PSSA (poly(styrene sulfonic acid), sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK), sulfonated polyethersulfone cardo, sulfonated poly(acrylene ether sulfone), disulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone), disulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone), sulfonated polyether ketone (SPEEK)/polybenzimidazole, polybenzimidazole (PBI), poly(vinylalcohol) (PVA), polyethyleneimine (PEI), polystzrene grafted poly(ethylene-alt-tetrafluoroethylene), poly-vinylidene fluoride (PVDF), poly(fluorinated arylene ether)s and mixtures thereof.

16. The electrically conducting composite material according to claim 1 , wherein said hygroscopic particles coated with a proton-conducting polymer consist of hygroscopic particles coated with the proton-conducting polymer represented by the formula

17. The electrically conducting composite material according to claim 1 , wherein said hygroscopic particles coated with a proton-conducting polymer consist of silica particles coated with the proton-conducting polymer represented by the formula

18. The electrically conducting composite material according to claim 1 , wherein the content of said hygroscopic particles in said proton-conducting polymer is in a range of about 0.1% to about 6% (w/w).

19. An electrode comprising:

an electrically conducting composite material according to claim 1 .

20. The electrode according to claim 19 , further comprising a gas diffusion layer.

21. The electrode according to claim 20 , wherein said gas diffusion layer and said electrically conducting porous base material of said electrically conducting composite material are made of the same or a different material.

22. A membrane electrode assembly (MEA) comprising an anode, a cathode and a proton-conducting polymer membrane being interposed between said anode and said cathode;

wherein at least said anode comprises an electrically conducting composite material according to claim 1 being in contact on one side with said proton-conducting polymer membrane and a gas diffusion layer being in contact with the other side of said electrically conducting composite material.

23. The membrane electrode assembly (MEA) according to claim 22 , wherein said proton-conducting polymer membrane comprises hygroscopic particles.

24. The membrane electrode assembly (MEA) according to claim 22 , wherein said gas diffusion layer and said electrically conducting composite material comprise the same or different electrically conducting porous base material.

25. A method of manufacturing an electrode comprising formulating an electrically conducting composite material according to claim 1 .

26. A method of manufacturing a fuel cell comprising assembling a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) as defined in claim 22 .

27. A method of manufacturing an electrically conducting composite material as recited in claim 1 comprising:

loading said noble metal catalyst onto said electrically conducting porous base material to form said electrically conducting catalytic porous base material;

coating said hygroscopic particles with said proton-conducting polymer; and

incorporating said hygroscopic particles coated with said proton-conducting polymer into said electrically conducting catalytic porous base material.

28. The method according to claim 27 , wherein said hygroscopic particles coated with said proton-conducting polymer are manufactured by dispersing said hygroscopic particles in a solution of said proton-conducting polymer; wherein said solution of said proton-conducting polymer is prepared by diluting a stock solution of said proton-conducting polymer with an alcohol.

29. An electrical device comprising a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) as defined in claim 22 as part of an energy source.

30. The electrical device according to claim 29 , wherein said electrical device is selected from the group consisting of a cell phone, a computer, a laptop, a photo camera, a video camera and a vehicle.