Polar plate assembly for a fuel cell and an individual cell
AssigneesVolkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, Audi AG
InventorsAdel Jilani, Sanjiv Kumar
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to a polar plate assembly for a fuel cell, comprising: a polar plate which comprises, on at least one of its flat sides, elevations and free spaces arranged between them, which form a flow structure for a reactant; and a supporting structure designed to prevent or at least reduce an intrusion by a gas diffusion layer adjacent to the supporting structure and/or a membrane electrode assembly into the free spaces of the flow structure. It is provided that the polar plate assembly is designed such that the polar plate protrudes into the supporting structure. The invention furthermore relates to an individual cell with a polar plate assembly according to the invention.
Claims8
A polar plate assembly for a fuel cell, comprising:
- a polar plate including a plurality of elevations and a plurality of free spaces arranged between the elevations, wherein the plurality of elevations and the plurality of free spaces form a flow structure for a reactant;
- a gas diffusion layer;
- and
- a supporting structure that reduces an intrusion of the gas diffusion layer into the free spaces of the polar plate,
- wherein the supporting structure includes penetrating contact openings, and
- wherein the elevations of the polar plate protrude into the penetrating contact openings of the supporting structure.
An individual cell for a fuel cell, comprising:
- a membrane electrode assembly including a membrane, an anode on a first side of the membrane, and a cathode on a second side of the membrane opposite to the first side of the membrane;
- a polar plate including a plurality of elevations and a plurality of free spaces arranged between the elevations, wherein the plurality of elevations and the plurality of free spaces form a flow structure for a reactant;
- a gas diffusion layer between the membrane electrode assembly and the polar plate;
- and
- a supporting structure that reduces an intrusion of the gas diffusion layer into the free spaces of the polar plate,
- wherein the polar plate protrudes into the supporting structure and directly contacts the gas diffusion layer through the supporting structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.