Catalyst and/or electrolyte loaded plate and method of making same
A loaded plate for use with or as part of a fuel cell of a fuel cell stack in which the loading material of the plate is in cord form. The loading material can be either an electrolyte or a catalyst and the cord form is realized by extruding the loading material on the plate.
1. An assembly for use with or as part of a fuel cell used in a fuel cell stack, comprising:
a plate; and
a loading material in cord form disposed on said plate, said loading material comprising one or more of an electrolyte and a catalyst.
2. An assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein:
said loading material is extruded to obtain said cord form.
3. An assembly in accordance with claim 2 wherein:
said plate includes channels and said loading material is situated in said channels.
4. An assembly in accordance with claim 3 wherein:
said plate is one of an anode and cathode current collector plate.
5. An assembly in accordance with claim 4 wherein:
said plate is corrugated to define said channels.
6. An assembly in accordance with claim 4 wherein:
said electrolyte is a carbonate.
7. An assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein:
said electrolyte is a carbonate.
8. An assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein:
said assembly is one of an anode and cathode assembly and said plate is a current collector of said assembly.
9. An assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein:
said assembly is a fuel cell and said plate is a part of said fuel cell.
10. An assembly in accordance with claim 9 wherein:
said fuel cell includes an anode assembly and a cathode assembly and said plate is a current collector of one of said anode assembly and cathode assembly.
11. An assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein:
each cord of loading material is of a length ≧about 0.5″.
12. An assembly in accordance with claim 11 wherein:
each cord of catalyst loading material has a 45 to 60 percent volume porosity.
13. An assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein:
said loading material is a catalyst loading material; and
each cord of catalyst loading material has small pores of a size in the hundredths of a micrometer range and large pores of a size in the ones of micrometer range.
14. An assembly in accordance with claim 13 wherein:
said large pores account for 30 to 35 volume percent of the total porosity of each cord of loading material.
15. An assembly in accordance with claim 13 wherein:
the size of said small pores is in a range ≦0.01 μm; and
the size of said large pores is in a range ≧5 μm.
16. A method of fabricating a plate for use with or as part of a fuel cell used in a fuel cell stack comprising:
positioning said plate to receive a loading material; and
depositing said loading material in cord form on said plate, said loading material comprising one or more of an electrolyte and a catalyst.
17. A method in accordance with claim 16 wherein:
said depositing step includes extruding said loading material onto said plate with an extruder.
18. A method in accordance with claim 17 wherein:
said positioning includes situating said plate on a table; and
said method further includes causing relative movement between said plate and said extruder.
19. A method in accordance with claim 18 wherein:
said plate has channels;
said plate is situated on said table with said channels facing said extruder; and
said relative movement between said table and said extruder causes said loading material in cord form to be deposited in said channels.
20. A method in accordance with claim 19 wherein:
said depositing step further includes: forming said loading material including mixing loading material particles with a binder to form a dough.
21. A method in accordance with claim 20 further comprising:
heating said loaded plate to remove said binder.
22. A method in accordance with claim 21 wherein:
said heating is conducted when said loaded plate is incorporated into the fuel cell of the fuel cell stack.
23. A method in accordance with claim 16 further comprising:
incorporating said loaded plate into one of an anode assembly and cathode assembly as a current collector.
24. A method in accordance with claim 23 further comprising:
incorporating said one of said anode assembly and said cathode assembly into the fuel cell of the fuel cell stack.
25. A method in accordance with claim 16 wherein:
said electrolyte material is a carbonate.
26. A method in accordance with claim 16 wherein:
said depositing step further includes: forming said loading material including mixing loading material particles with a binder to form a dough.
27. A method in accordance with claim 26 further comprising:
removing said binder material from each said cord of loading material.
28. A method in accordance with claim 27 wherein:
said removing is carried out by heating.
29. A method in accordance with claim 27 wherein:
said loading material is an electrolyte loading material; and
said binder is one of glycerol and low molecular weight polyethylene glycol.
30. A method in accordance with claim 29 wherein:
said electrolyte material is a carbonate.
31. A method in accordance with claim 27 wherein:
said loading material is a catalyst material.
32. A method in accordance with claim 31 wherein:
said particles of loading material have a size in the range of 1 to 100 μm.
33. A method in accordance with claim 31 wherein:
said removing step results in each cord of catalyst material having small pores of a size in the hundredths of a micrometer range and large pores of a size in the ones of micrometer range.
34. A method in accordance with claim 33 wherein:
the size of said small pores is in a range of ≦0.01 μm; and
the size of said large pores is in a range of ≧5 μm.
35. A method in accordance with claim 33 wherein:
said large pores account for 30 to 50 percent of the total porosity of each cord of loading material.
36. Apparatus for fabricating a plate for use with or as part of a fuel cell used in a fuel cell stack comprising:
means for positioning said plate to receive a loading material; and
means for depositing said loading material in cord form on said plate, said loading material comprising one or more of a catalyst material and an electrolyte material.
37. An apparatus in accordance with claim 36 wherein:
said means for depositing includes an extruder for extruding said loading material onto said plate.
38. An apparatus in accordance with claim 37 wherein:
said means for positioning includes: a table supporting said plate; and means for causing relative movement between said table and said extruder.
39. An apparatus in accordance with claim 38 wherein:
said plate has channels;
said plate is situated on said table with said channels facing said extruder;
and said relative movement between said table and said extruder causes said loading material in cord form to be deposited in said channels.
40. An apparatus in accordance with claim 39 wherein:
said means for depositing further includes: means for forming said loading material including a mixer for mixing loading material particles with a binder to form a dough.