Fuel-cell integral multifunction heater and methods

1. A fuel cell having an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte, said fuel cell comprising:

a multifunction integral heater element embedded within at least one of said electrolyte, anode, and cathode, and disposed in thermal contact with at least one of said electrolyte, anode, and cathode, the multifunction integral heater element including an integral temperature sensor, and

terminals electrically coupled to said integral heater element for providing heating current for heating said electrolyte to a desired temperature before operation and during operation of said fuel cell.

2. The fuel cell of claim 1 , wherein said integral heater element is disposed between said anode and said cathode.

3. The fuel cell of claim 2 , wherein said integral heater element is configured with interstices for allowing ionic current to flow between said anode and said cathode.

4. The fuel cell of claim 1 , wherein said integral heater element is spaced apart from said anode.

5. The fuel cell of claim 1 , wherein said integral heater element is spaced apart from said cathode.

6. The fuel cell of claim 1 , wherein said integral heater element is disposed adjacent to said anode.

7. The fuel cell of claim 1 , wherein said integral heater element is disposed adjacent to said cathode.

8. The fuel cell of claim 1 , wherein said electrolyte has a projected area and said integral heater element extends over a minor portion of said projected area of said electrolyte.

9. The fuel cell of claim 1 , wherein said electrolyte has a projected area and said integral heater element is substantially centered with respect to said projected area of said electrolyte.

10. The fuel cell of claim 1 , wherein said electrolyte has a thickness and said integral heater element is disposed entirely within said thickness of said electrolyte.

11. The fuel cell of claim 1 , wherein said electrolyte has a thickness and said integral heater element is substantially centered within said thickness of said electrolyte.

12. The fuel cell of claim 1 , wherein said integral heater element comprises a thin film of a material having suitable resistivity.

13. The fuel cell of claim 12 , wherein said material of said thin film comprises a refractory metal.

14. The fuel cell of claim 12 , wherein said material of said thin film is selected from the list consisting of nickel, palladium, platinum, chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, vanadium, niobium, tantalum, rhenium, ruthenium, osmium, rhodium, iridium, and alloys, combinations, and mixtures thereof.

15. The fuel cell of claim 12 , wherein said material of said thin film is a conductive oxide.

16. The fuel cell of claim 12 , wherein said material of said thin film is a ceramic material.

17. The fuel cell of claim 16 , wherein said ceramic material is selected from the list consisting of La(Sr)Cr(Mn)O 3 , La(Sr)Cr(Ti)O 3 , Sm(Sr)CoO3, La(Sr)Co(Fe)O3, wherein (Sr), (Mn), (Ti), and (Fe) respectively denote dopants.

18. The fuel cell of claim 12 , wherein a portion of said material of said thin film is a metal selected from the list consisting of copper, silver, gold, and alloys, combinations, and mixtures thereof.

19. The fuel cell of claim 12 , wherein said thin film is patterned.

20. The fuel cell of claim 19 , wherein said patterned thin film forms an elongated strip.

21. The fuel cell of claim 19 , wherein said patterned thin film forms a serpentine pattern.

22. The fuel cell of claim 19 , wherein said patterned thin film forms a boustrophedonic pattern.

23. The fuel cell of claim 1 , wherein said integral temperature sensor comprises a thermistor.

24. The fuel cell of claim 1 , wherein said integral heater element is formed by two dissimilar metallic portions joined at a single junction, whereby said integral temperature sensor is configured as a thermocouple.

25. The fuel cell of claim 1 , wherein said integral heater element includes a current collector.

26. The fuel cell of claim 1 , further comprising a current collector.

27. The fuel cell of claim 26 , wherein said current collector comprises said integral heater element.

28. An electronic device, comprising the fuel cell of claim 1 .

29. The electronic device of claim 28 , further comprising a system for controlling said integral heater element to achieve and maintain said desired temperature.

30. The electronic device of claim 29 , wherein said system for controlling said integral heater element uses feedback to achieve and to maintain said desired temperature.

31. A fuel cell having an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte, said fuel cell comprising:

a multifunction integral heater element embedded in said electrolyte, in thermal contact with said electrolyte, and disposed between said anode and said cathode, said multifunction integral heater element comprising a thin film of a material having suitable resistivity, said multifunction integral heater element including an integral temperature sensor, and

terminals electrically coupled to said multifunction integral heater element for providing heating current through said thin film for heating said electrolyte to a desired temperature before operation and during operation of said fuel cell.

32. The fuel cell of claim 31 , further comprising a feedback control system responsive to said integral temperature sensor to control said multifunction integral heater element for achieving and maintaining said desired temperature.

33. A fuel cell comprising:

an anode, a cathode, an electrolyte,

integral means for heating at least one of said anode, cathode, and electrolyte, said integral means for heating being disposed within said fuel cell and embedded in thermal contact with at least one of said anode, cathode, and electrolyte, said integral means for heating including integral means for sensing a temperature within said fuel cell, and

means for providing heating current to said integral means for heating before operation and during operation of said fuel cell.

34. The fuel cell of claim 33 , further comprising means for controlling said temperature to a desired temperature, said means for controlling being responsive to said temperature within said fuel cell.

35. The fuel cell of claim 33 , further comprising means for controlling said integral means for heating, for achieving and maintaining a desired temperature.

36. The fuel cell of claim 33 , wherein said integral means for heating further comprises means for collecting current generated by said fuel cell.

37. A multifunction heater element for a fuel cell having an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte, said multifunction heater element comprising:

a) a patterned thin film of resistive material, and

b) an integral temperature sensor,

both said thin film and said integral temperature sensor being adapted to be disposed in thermal contact with at least one of said anode, cathode, and electrolyte, thereby being integral with the fuel cell, whereby the integral temperature sensor is responsive to an internal temperature of said fuel cell and the multifunction heater element is disposed to heat the fuel cell.

38. The multifunction heater of claim 37 , wherein said multifunction heater is embedded within at least one of the electrolyte, anode, and cathode.

39. The multifunction heater of claim 37 , wherein said integral temperature sensor comprises a thermistor.

40. The multifunction heater of claim 37 , wherein said integral temperature sensor is configured as a thermocouple.