Method of making combined fuel cell electrolyte and electrodes
The construction of a semisolid electrolyte for a fuel cell having film electrodes is described. The electrolyte is prepared by intimately mixing the finely powdered refractory material and the carbonate or mixture of carbonates in quantities generally on the order of thirty to seventy parts carbonates to seventy to thirty parts refractory. The mixture is then pressed into a flat disc of the desired configuration, is fired, and is then cooled and then ground to provide flat parallel surfaces with the desired disc thickness. The electrodes are applied by painting on opposite surfaces of the disc a paint formed of fine particles of the desired metal or metals mixed with an organic liquid. Bonding agents, such as organic resins, may also be included. After painting the surfaces of the electrolyte, the painted coatings are baked to a temperature sufficiently high to drive off the organic matter. Then in fuel cell service, the coatings are raised to temperatures near or exceeding the sintering temperatures of the metals. This will leave the metal particles in the form of thin skeletal coatings on opposite faces of the disc to serve as the electrodes. In the case of metals with sintering temperatures higher than cell operating temperatures, these may be mixed in the form of a paint with a paint made with a metal of lower sintering temperature. In service, the one metal will sinter and hold the unsintered metal particles. In any case, the thin skeletal electrodes are extremely thin and fragile and are not self-supporting. In operation, the cell operating temperature is above the melting point of the carbonates employed so that they will function substantially as a liquid electrolyte. (WHK)
- Assignee:
- TIC; ERA-04-023579; EDB-79-036987
- Patent Number(s):
- US 3257239
- OSTI ID:
- 6429708
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
300501 -- Fuel Cells-- Design & Development
300503* -- Fuel Cells-- Materials
Components
& Auxiliaries
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBONATES
CHALCOGENIDES
COATINGS
DESIGN
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS
ELECTRODES
ELECTROLYTES
ELEMENTS
FABRICATION
FUEL CELLS
HIGH-TEMPERATURE FUEL CELLS
LITHIUM CARBONATES
LITHIUM COMPOUNDS
MAGNESIUM COMPOUNDS
MAGNESIUM OXIDES
METALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PAINTS
PLATINUM
PLATINUM METALS
POWDERS
REFRACTORIES
SODIUM CARBONATES
SODIUM COMPOUNDS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS