ZINC AIR FUEL CELL WITH ENHANCED CELL PERFORMANCE

• US 20110117456A1
• Filed: 07/16/2010
• Published: 05/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
• Original Assignee: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
• Inventors: Kim, Chang Soo, Kim, Hong Gon, Min, Byoung Koun, Suh, Dong Jin, Lee, Hyun Joo
• Granted Patent: US 8,603,702 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 429/406
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 12/065 with plate-like electrodes or stacks of plate-like electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/12 of consumable metal or alloy electrodes use of alloy compositions as active materials H01M4/38
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/661 Metal or alloys, e.g. alloy coatings H01M4/669 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/742 perforated material
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/8652 as mixture
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/8657 layered
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/886 Powder spraying, e.g. wet or dry powder spraying, plasma spraying
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/8882 Heat treatment, e.g. drying, baking
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/9016 Oxides, hydroxides or oxygenated metallic salts
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/423 Polyamide resins
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/44 Fibrous material
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/46 Separators, membranes or diaphragms characterised by their combination with electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/491 Porosity
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/50 Fuel cells

Abstract

Provided is a zinc air fuel cell with enhanced cell performance, more particularly a zinc air fuel cell which includes a separator-electrode assembly including a perforated metal plate as a cathode current collector, a catalyst-coated carbon paper, a separator, a perforated metal plate as an anode current collector, and a tilted nonconductive support. Furthermore, a metal plate may be placed on the tilted nonconductive support and connected to the anode current collector in the separator-electrode assembly to enlarge the active area of the anode current collector. For the zinc air fuel cell according to the present invention, a manufacturing cost may be reduced by using a mixture of MnO₂ and CeO₂, which are low-priced metal oxides as catalyst materials for oxygen reduction, and by using a low-priced nylon filter, which has a micro-porous structure and shows high stability in alkaline electrolyte. According to the present invention, the performance of the zinc air fuel cell may be efficiently enhanced by using a separator-electrode assembly structure, which minimize a distance between the anode current collector and the cathode current collector, and by adding a metal plate which plays a role of an additional anode current collector on the tilted nonconductive support so as to increase the overall active area of anode current collector contacting with zinc pellets and to resultantly enhance the ionization of zinc.

Claims

1. A zinc air fuel cell with enhanced cell performance, the zinc air fuel cell comprising:

an integrated separator-electrode assembly comprising a perforated metal plate as a cathode current collector, a catalyst-coated carbon paper, a separator, and a perforated metal plate as an anode current collector; and

a tilted nonconductive support.

2. The zinc air fuel cell of claim 1, wherein the perforated metal plate as the cathode current collector and the perforated metal plate as the anode current collector comprise one of stainless steel, nickel, iron, copper, gold and platinum.

3. The zinc air fuel cell of claim 1, wherein the perforated metal plate as the cathode current collector and the perforated metal plate as the anode current collector are stainless steel or nickel.

4. The zinc air fuel cell of claim 1, wherein the catalyst-coated carbon paper is manufactured by mixing amorphous carbon, catalyst substance as a mixture of MnO₂ and CeO₂, and Nafion solution as a binder in a weight ratio of 1.2 to 1.4:

1.2 to 1.4;

1, spraying a resultant mixture on a carbon paper, and drying the carbon paper.

5. The zinc air fuel cell of claim 1, wherein the catalyst-coated carbon paper has a multilayered structure of catalyst layers prepared by:

mixing amorphous carbon, catalyst substance as a mixture of MnO₂ and CeO₂, and Nafion solution as a binder in a weight ratio of 1.2 to 1.4;

1.2 to 1.4;

1;

diluting a resultant mixture with water and alcohol;

spraying the diluted mixture on a carbon paper;

drying the carbon paper; and

repeating the spraying and the drying multiple times.

6. The zinc air fuel cell of claim 1, wherein the separator comprises a nylon net filter.

7. The zinc air fuel cell of claim 1, wherein a moving distance of hydroxyl ions (OH⁻

) from the cathode to the anode is shortened to enhance the fuel cell performance by providing an integrated separator-electrode assembly comprising a perforated metal plate as a cathode current collector, a catalyst-coated carbon paper, a separator, and a perforated metal plate as an anode current collector.

8. The zinc air fuel cell of claim 1, wherein the tilted nonconductive support comprises one of acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (AS resin), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS resin), polystyrene (PS resin), polypropylene (PP resin), high-density polyethylene (HDPE resin) and polyimide.

9. The zinc air fuel cell of claim 1, wherein the tilted nonconductive support has a tilt angle ranging from 2°

to 4°

with respect to the separator-electrode assembly.

10. The zinc air fuel cell of claim 1, wherein a metal sheet is placed on the tilted nonconductive support in order to supply an extra anode current collector in addition to the anode current collector in the integrated separator-electrode assembly.

11. The zinc air fuel cell of claim 10, wherein the metal sheet comprises one of stainless steel, nickel, iron, copper, gold and platinum.

12. The zinc air fuel cell of claim 10, wherein a performance of a zinc air fuel cell is enhanced by connecting the metal sheet placed on the tilted nonconductive support and the perforated anode current collector in the integrated separator-electrode assembly through conducting wires to increase the overall active area of anode current collector contacting with zinc particles and accelerating the ionization of zinc.

13. A zinc air fuel cell with enhanced cell performance, the zinc air fuel cell comprising:

an integrated separator-electrode assembly comprising a perforated stainless steel plate as a cathode current collector, a catalyst-coated carbon paper, a nylon net filter separator, and a perforated stainless steel plate as an anode current collector;

a tilted nonconductive support having a tilt angle ranging from 2°

to 4°

with respect to the separator-electrode assembly; and

a metal sheet placed on the tilted nonconductive support and electrically connected to the perforated anode current collector through conducting wires.