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US 12,009,524 B2Granted
Flexible, planar, double sided air breathing microscale fuel cell
AssigneeThe Trustees of the Stevens Institute of Technology
InventorsRonald Besser, Seyed Reza Mahmoodi
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Abstract
Flexible air-breathing microscale fuel cells are produced using ion exchange polymer membranes without silicon substrates or other rigid components. The microscale fuel cells provide long-life energy supply sources in portable electronics due to reduced volume, high energy density, and low cost. More particularly, the microscale fuel cell has a direct hydrogen flow-through porous anode electrode with a pair of air-breathing cathodes.
Claims28
A flexible micro-scale fuel cell, comprising:
- a porous anode;
- a first air-breathing cathode positioned to one side of said anode;
- a first flexible ion exchange polymer membrane positioned between said anode and said first air-breathing cathode;
- a second flexible ion exchange polymer membrane positioned to an opposite side of said anode and cooperating with said first ion exchange polymer membrane to create a seal around said anode;
- a first microchannel provided in at least one of said first and second ion exchange polymer membranes, said first microchannel being in fluid communication with said anode and configured to deliver reaction fluids to said anode;
- an inlet opening provided in at least one of said first and second ion exchange polymer membranes, said inlet opening being in fluid communication with said first microchannel and configured to deliver reaction fluids to said first microchannel from a source of reaction fluids located external of said fuel cell;
- a second microchannel provided in at least one of said first and second ion exchange polymer membranes, said second microchannel being in fluid communication with said anode and configured to receive reaction fluids from said anode;
- and
- an outlet opening provided in at least one of said first and second ion exchange polymer membranes, said outlet opening being in fluid communication with said second microchannel and configured to receive reaction fluids from said second microchannel and discharge them from said fuel cell.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.