MICRO FUEL CELL HAVING MACROPOROUS METAL CURRENT COLLECTORS
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- assembling an electrode of an energy generation device comprising;
forming a porous conductive material;
conformally coating the porous conductive material with a catalyst layer comprising one or more materials that are electrically and ionically conductive; and
conformally forming an electrolyte layer on the catalyst layer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method is provided for fabricating a hybrid gas diffusion layer/current collector/electrocatalyst structure (28) suitable for 3D microfuel cell devices (180). The method comprises forming a macroporous electrically conductive structure (28) on a substrate (12, 112) positioned such that a plurality of cathode current collector/GDL (168) and anode current collector/GDL (166) are formed. An electrocatalyst material (158) is deposited in contact with these structures, completing the formation of cathode (168) and anode (166) hybrid current collector/GDL/electrocatalyst structures. When electrolyte (158) is positioned between the electrocatalyst material (158) contacting the cathode collector (168) and the electrocatalyst material (158) contacting each of the plurality of anode collectors (166), the resulting MEA is suitable for use in a micro fuel cell device.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
assembling an electrode of an energy generation device comprising; forming a porous conductive material; conformally coating the porous conductive material with a catalyst layer comprising one or more materials that are electrically and ionically conductive; and conformally forming an electrolyte layer on the catalyst layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method comprising:
assembling an electrode of an energy generation device comprising; forming a porous electrolyte layer; conformally coating the porous electrolyte layer with a catalyst layer comprising one or more materials that are electrically and ionically conductive; and conformally coating the catalyst layer with a porous conducting material. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method comprising:
forming a fuel cell with an electrode assembly, comprising; dispensing a solution onto a substrate, the solution including macroscale size particles; removing the solution to create an array of particles defining a first void within the array; filling the first void with a precursor; reducing the precursor to a conductive material; removing the plurality of particles, thereby forming a macroporous template comprising the conductive material and defining a second void; and forming an electrocatalyst within the second void. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
Specification