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US 12,027,737 B2Granted
Fuel cells incorporating silica fibers
AssigneeAmerican Nano, LLC
InventorsMitch Dellinger, Surya Raj Banks
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Embodiments of the invention include fuel cells incorporating sheets and/or powders of silica fibers and methods for producing such devices. The silica fibers may be formed via electrospinning of a sol gel produced with a silicon alkoxide reagent, such as tetraethyl ortho silicate, alcohol solvent, and an acid catalyst.
Claims23
A method of fabricating a fuel cell, the method comprising:
- providing an electrolyte layer;
- providing a first catalyst layer being configured to receive a hydrogen-containing fuel, oxidize hydrogen from the fuel, and supply protons to the electrolyte layer;
- providing a second catalyst layer being configured to receive protons from the electrolyte layer, receive oxygen, and reduce the oxygen to form water to thereby enable the production of electrical current by the fuel cell;
- disposing the first catalyst layer on an anode side of the electrolyte layer;
- disposing the second catalyst layer on a cathode side of the electrolyte layer;
- and
- (A) disposing a first diffusion layer on the first catalyst layer opposite the electrolyte layer, the first diffusion layer being configured to transport the hydrogen-containing fuel to the first catalyst layer, and the first diffusion layer comprising a first sheet of silica fibers, the first diffusion layer being provided at least in part by (i) producing a first sol-gel from an initial sol containing 75% to 90% tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS), 8% to 25% ethanol, an acid catalyst, and the balance water, and (ii) electrospinning the first sol-gel, and/or (B) disposing a second diffusion layer on the second catalyst layer opposite the electrolyte layer, the second diffusion layer being configured to transport oxygen to the second catalyst layer, and the second diffusion layer comprising a second sheet of silica fibers, the second diffusion layer being provided at least in part by (i) producing a second sol-gel from an initial sol containing 75% to 90% TEOS, 8% to 25% ethanol, an acid catalyst, and the balance water, and (ii) electrospinning the second sol-gel.
4 more elements
A method of fabricating a fuel cell, the method comprising:
- providing an electrolyte layer;
- providing a first catalyst layer being configured to receive a hydrogen-containing fuel, oxidize hydrogen from the fuel, and supply protons to the electrolyte layer;
- providing a second catalyst layer being configured to receive protons from the electrolyte layer, receive oxygen, and reduce the oxygen to form water to thereby enable the production of electrical current by the fuel cell;
- disposing the first catalyst layer on an anode side of the electrolyte layer;
- disposing the second catalyst layer on a cathode side of the electrolyte layer;
- and
- (A) disposing a first diffusion layer on the first catalyst layer opposite the electrolyte layer, the first diffusion layer being configured to transport the hydrogen-containing fuel to the first catalyst layer, and the first diffusion layer comprising a first sheet of silica fibers, the first diffusion layer being provided at least in part by (i) electrospinning a first sol-gel to form a mat of silica fibers, (ii) fragmenting at least a portion of the mat into a powder, and (iii) pressing the powder to form the first sheet of silica fibers, and/or (B) disposing a second diffusion layer on the second catalyst layer opposite the electrolyte layer, the second diffusion layer being configured to transport oxygen to the second catalyst layer, and the second diffusion layer comprising a second sheet of silica fibers, the second diffusion layer being provided at least in part by (i) electrospinning a second sol-gel to form a mat of silica fibers, (ii) fragmenting at least a portion of the mat into a powder, and (iii) pressing the powder to form the second sheet of silica fibers.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.