Fuel cell arrangement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11024862-B2
Application number	US-202016747669-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 21, 2020
Priority date	Apr 23, 2015
Publication date	Jun 1, 2021
Grant date	Jun 1, 2021

Abstract

A fuel cell arrangement for carrying out a method for ascertaining the overvoltage of a working electrode in a fuel cell, in which the potential of a reference electrode compared to the grounded counter electrode is measured. For the measurement, a fuel cell comprising a polymer electrolyte membrane is used, in which the counter electrode comprises a lateral edge having at least one convexly curved region, and the electrolyte membrane surface, adjoining the counter electrode, comprises an electrode-free region in which the reference electrode is disposed on the electrolyte membrane surface. In contrast, the working electrode is continuous, which is to say has a large surface. The minimum distance Lgap between the reference electrode and the edge of the counter electrode Lgap=3×Ll,r with (a) and (b), where m=ionic conductivity of the electrolyte membrane (Ω−1 cm−1), box=Tafel slope of the half cell for the electrochemical reaction of the working electrode, lm=membrane layer thickness (cm) and jox0=exchange current density of the catalyst of the working electrode per unit of electrode surface in (A cm−2). This arrangement can advantageously be used to ensure that the potential measured at the hydrogen-fed reference electrode corresponds to the overvoltage of the working electrode with sufficient accuracy. The method can be applied to polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), to direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) or to high-temperature fuel cells (SOFC).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A fuel cell, comprising:
a polymer electrolyte membrane having a layer thickness l m ;
a working electrode that is a continuous electrode and is disposed on one side of the polymer electrolyte membrane; and
a counter electrode which is grounded and is disposed on the other side of the polymer electrolyte membrane; and
wherein the counter electrode has an outer edge spanning an entire circumference of the counter electrode along a surface of the polymer electrolyte membrane, said outer edge comprising a first portion forming a lateral edge having a convex curvature with a local radius R a and said outer edge comprising a second portion with a local radius greater than R a , so that said lateral edge forms a convexly curved tip which is more convexly curved than said second portion;
wherein the polymer electrolyte membrane surface comprises an electrode-free region adjoining the counter electrode and opposite the working electrode;
wherein a reference electrode is disposed on the polymer electrolyte membrane surface in a region of the electrode-free region and in an immediate vicinity of a region of the convexly curved tip of the counter electrode;
wherein the minimum distance L gap between the reference electrode and the convexly curved tip of the counter electrode is given by

L
gap

=

3
·

L

l
,
r

⁢

⁢
where

L

l
,
r

=

πλ
D

2

⁡

[

ln
⁡

(

67

18
⁢

(

R
a

/

λ
D

)

7
/
45

)

]

-
1

⁢
and

λ
D

⁢

σ
m

⁢

b

a
⁢

⁢
x

⁢

l
m

2
⁢

j

a
⁢

⁢
x

0

where
σ m =ionic conductivity of the polymer electrolyte membrane (Ω −1 cm −1 ),
b ox =Tafel slope of the half cell for the electrochemical reaction of the working electrode (V),
l m =polymer electrolyte membrane layer thickness (cm),
f ox 0 =exchange current density of the catalyst of the working electrode per unit of electrode surface in (A cm −2 ), and
R a =local radius of the convexly curved tip of the counter electrode (cm) located closest to the reference electrode; and
wherein the reference electrode is disposed at a distance in the range of L gap to 100 L gap from the convexly curved tip of the counter electrode.

2. The fuel cell according to claim 1 , comprising a cathode as the working electrode, and an anode as the counter electrode.

3. The fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein the convexly curved tip has a local radius R a between 0.01 and 1 cm.

4. The fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein the convexly curved tip has a local radius R a of less than 0.1 cm.

5. The fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein the working electrode extends for a distance that is greater than 3λ D .

6. The fuel cell according to claim 1 for carrying out a method for ascertaining the overvoltage of the working electrode in the fuel cell, comprising measuring a potential of the reference electrode and a potential of the grounded counter electrode; and comparing the potential of the reference electrode to the grounded counter electrode.

7. The fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein the reference electrode is disposed at a distance in the range between L gap and 10 L gap .

8. The fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein the reference electrode is disposed at a distance in the range between L gap and 3 L gap .

Assignees

• Forschungszentrum Juelich Gmbh

Inventors

• Kulikovsky Andrei

Classifications

• Y02E60/50

  Fuel cells · CPC title

• H01M8/1006 Primary

  Corrugated, curved or wave-shaped MEA · CPC title

• H01M8/04552

  of the individual fuel cell · CPC title

• C25B1/02

  Hydrogen or oxygen · CPC title

• C25B11/00

  Electrodes; Manufacture thereof not otherwise provided for · CPC title