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US 7,247,400 B2Granted
Fuel cell and method of controlling the same
AssigneeAisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsYosuke Oyabe, Shinji Nezu, Naoki Ito
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Abstract
A polymer solid electrolyte type fuel cell includes an internal electrode in an ion exchange membrane made of a proton conductor, a voltage application device provided between the internal electrode and one of a fuel electrode and an oxidizer electrode. Applying voltage to the internal electrode makes it possible to control fuel and/or oxidizer movements in the electrolyte.
Claims7
A polymer electrolyte fuel cell comprising;
- an ion exchange membrane made of a proton conductor,
- a fuel electrode provided on one side of the ion exchange membrane,
- an oxidizer electrode provided on the other side of the ion exchange membrane,
- at least one internal electrode provided in the ion exchange membrane, and
- a voltage application device for applying voltage to the internal electrode in order to control an electrode potential of the internal electrode by connecting a power source between the internal electrode and one of the fuel electrode and the oxidizer electrode.
2 more elements
A method of controlling a polymer electrolyte fuel cell having an ion exchange membrane made of a proton conductor,
- a fuel electrode provided on one side of the ion exchange membrane,
- and an oxidizer electrode provided on the other side of the ion exchange membrane, the method comprising:
- a step of applying voltage capable of oxidizing the fuel or reducing the oxidizer on an internal electrode provided in the ion exchange membrane in order to control a movement of a fuel or oxidizer permeated in the ion exchange membrane.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.