Primary source of electrical energy using a mixture of fuel and oxidizer

Abstract

A solid electrolyte fuel cell capable of operating with a mixture of an oxidizer and a fuel includes a permeable catalytic electrode and an impermeable catalytic electrode separated by an electron insulating, ion conducting, gas permeable solid electrolyte. The device produces charge flow in an external circuit when the permeable electrode is exposed to a mixture including an oxidizer and a fuel such as hydrogen, methane or methanol. The solid electrolyte can be a hydrated aluminum oxide, primarily of the pseudoboehmite structure and either electrode can be Pt or Pd. The solid electrolyte can be produced by exposing a bulk aluminum surface or a deposited layer of aluminum to water or water vapor or by exposing an anodically oxidized layer of aluminum oxide to water or water vapor. The device is produced in thin film form and can be produced by techniques compatible with thin film device fabrication. The magnitude and direction of the charge flow is dependent on the particular fuel, so that the device can serve as a species selective, gas sensor which does not require the external application of sensing power in order to produce a measurable voltage.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.