Fuel cell and passive support
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsPeter Mardilovich, Gregory S Herman, Christopher Beatty, James O'Neil, David Champion
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fuel cell is disclosed that includes a passive support having a fine pore region disposed between a first coarser pore region and a second coarser pore region. An exemplary fuel cell has an electrolyte material positioned in the fine pore region and a first electrode material positioned in the first coarser pore region and a second electrode material positioned in the second coarser pore region. Other exemplary devices and/or methods are also disclosed.
Claims37
A solid oxide fuel cell comprising:
- a passive support having pores wherein the passive support has a fine pore region disposed between a first coarser pore region and a second coarser pore region;
- an electrolyte material positioned in the fine pore region;
- a first electrode material positioned in the first coarser pore region;
- and
- a second electrode material positioned in the second coarser pore region.
A method comprising:
- depositing an electrolyte material in a porous asymmetric passive support to block at least some pores of the porous asymmetric passive support;
- depositing an electrode material in the porous asymmetric passive support such that at least some of the electrode material contacts the electrolyte material;
- and
- sintering the porous asymmetric passive support, the electrolyte material and the electrode material to produce a dense electrolyte layer and a porous electrode.
A method comprising:
- conducting ions through an electrolyte positioned in a fine pore region of a passive support wherein the fine pore region is disposed between two coarser pore regions of the passive support;
- and
- sintering or reducing the electrode material to increase porosity of the electrode material;
- and
- reacting the conducted ions with a fuel to thereby generate an electrical potential.
A method of constructing a fuel cell comprising:
- determining an acceptable range of thermal expansion of a cathode and an electrolyte;
- determining an acceptable range of agglomeration of an electrode material in an anode;
- selecting a porous passive support based at least in part on the acceptable range of thermal expansion and the acceptable range of agglomeration;
- and
- constructing a fuel cell using the selected porous passive support, the cathode, the electrolyte and the electrode material as an anode.
A method of making a frame and a passive support for a fuel cell comprising:
- selecting a first powder for a fine pore region of the passive support;
- selecting a second powder for a coarser pore region of the passive support;
- selecting a third powder for a frame;
- forming a green body having a passive support green body region and a frame green body region;
- and
- sintering the green body to produce the frame and the passive support for a fuel cell.
An electrode comprising:
- a metal oxide-based passive support having pores wherein the passive support has a fine pore region disposed between two coarser pore regions;
- and
- an electrode material positioned in at least one of the coarser pore regions.
A fuel cell comprising:
- means for conducting ions through an electrolyte positioned in a fine pore region of a metal oxide-based passive support wherein the fine pore region is disposed between two coarser pore regions of the passive support;
- and means for reacting the conducted ions with a fuel to thereby generate an electrical potential.
A fuel cell comprising:
- a metal oxide-based passive support having pores wherein the passive support has a fine pore region disposed between a first coarser pore region and a second coarser pore region;
- an electrolyte material positioned in the fine pore region;
- a first electrode material positioned in the first coarser pore region;
- and
- a second electrode material positioned in the second coarser pore region.
A method comprising:
- conducting ions through an electrolyte positioned in a fine pore region of a metal oxide-based passive support wherein the fine pore region is disposed between two coarser pore regions of the passive support;
- and
- reating the conducted ions with a fuel to thereby generate an electrical potential.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.