In this work we present a carbon free gas diffusion electrode (GDE) design. It is a first step towards improvement of technologies like alkaline fuel cells, some alkaline electrolyzes and metal-air-batteries by circumventing carbon degradation. A nickel-mesh was made hydrophobic and subsequently electrochemically coated with MnOx as electrocatalyst. By this, a carbon free GDE was prepared. The contact angle, specific surface area (BET), pore size distribution, crystal phase (XRD) and electrochemical properties were determined. The deposition scan rate (rscan) during dynamic MnOx deposition altered the macro surface structure, pore size distribution and deposited mass. High catalyst masses with high specific surface area were achieved by lower rscan, but hydrophobicity was decreased. Impedance spectroscopy showed that higher MnOx mass will increase the ohmic resistance, because of the low conductivity of oxides, such as MnOx. The diffusion of dissolved oxygen is the major contributor to the total resistance. However, the polarization resistance was reduced by increased specific surface area of MnOx. It was concluded that the ORR and OER are limited by diffusion in this design but nevertheless showed reasonable activity for ±10 mA cm−2 corresponding to ∼8 Ω cm−2 while references exhibited ∼3.5 Ω cm−2 .

Das Cold-Top-Schmelzen alkalifreier Borosilikatgläser hat im Vergleich zu angepassten Gas-Sauerstoff-beheizten Schmelzaggregaten nach dem Hot-Top-Prinzip wesentliche Vorteile, wie minimale Verdampfung von borsäurehaltigen Komponenten, hohe flächenspezifische Schmelzleistungen und niedrige Betriebskosten. Als Schlüsseltechnologie gilt der neu entwickelte Mo-Heizstrahler, welcher trotz der extrem schlechten elektrischen Leitfähigkeit der Schmelze eine aus Sicht der Schmelze indirekte elektrische Beheizung realisieren lässt. Mit Hilfe dieser Heizstrahler-Technologie lässt sich die Schmelze auf > 1450 °C erhitzen, was die Voraussetzung für eine direkt elektrische Beheizung ist. Diese weltweit einzigartige Technologie ermöglicht die Herstellung von alkalifreien technischen Gläsern nach dem Cold-Top-Verfahren.