Solid oxide fuel cell and electrochemical cell

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11367890-B2
Application number	US-201916512319-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 15, 2019
Priority date	Aug 1, 2018
Publication date	Jun 21, 2022
Grant date	Jun 21, 2022

Abstract

A cell including: a pair of interconnectors for electrically connecting unit cells; a membrane-electrode assembly disposed between the interconnectors; a pair of current collectors, each of which includes an abutting surface abutting against a corresponding one of the electrode layers and a first base material surface being in contact with a corresponding one of the interconnectors and electrically connecting the corresponding of the electrode layers and the corresponding one of the interconnectors; and elastic bodies biasing the abutting surface of at least one current collector toward a corresponding one of the electrode layers. The elastic bodies includes: a second base material surface being in contact with the first base material surface; and an elastic body protruding portion supporting the abutting surface and protruding from the second base material surface toward the corresponding one of the electrode layers to bias the abutting surface toward the corresponding one of the electrode layers.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A solid oxide fuel cell including unit cells, comprising:
a pair of interconnectors for electrically connecting the unit cells;
a membrane-electrode assembly disposed between the pair of interconnectors and including an electrolyte membrane and a pair of electrode layers disposed with the electrolyte membrane therebetween;
a pair of current collectors, each of which has a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, and includes an abutting portion having an abutting surface abutting against a corresponding one of the pair of electrode layers and a first base portion having a first base surface being in contact with a corresponding one of the pair of interconnectors and electrically connecting the corresponding of the pair of electrode layers and the corresponding one of the pair of interconnectors, the first surface including the abutting surface and the second surface including the first base surface; and
an elastic body biasing the abutting portion of at least one current collector of the pair of current collectors toward a corresponding one of the pair of electrode layers,
wherein the elastic body includes:
a base plate having a second base surface in contact with a surface of the at least one current collector opposite to the first base surface; and
a plurality of elastic body protruding portions each protruding from the base plate toward the corresponding one of the pair of electrode layers and in contact with a surface of the at least one current collector opposite to the abutting surface to bias the abutting portion toward the corresponding one of the pair of electrode layers.

2. The solid oxide fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein
at least one end of the second base surface is not fixed on the surface opposite to the first base surface.

3. The solid oxide fuel cell according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a gas distribution chamber that is provided between one of the pair of interconnectors and a corresponding one of the pair of electrode layers and in which a corresponding one of the pair of current collectors is disposed and gases to be used in the pair of electrode layers during power generation by the solid oxide fuel battery flow, wherein:
each of the pair of current collectors includes a plurality of abutting portions and a plurality of current collector protruding portions protruding from the first base portion toward the corresponding one of the pair of electrode layers, and
the current collector protruding portions are arranged on the first base portion in a staggered manner with respect to flow directions of the gases.

4. The solid oxide fuel cell according to claim 3 , wherein:
the plurality of current collector protruding portions and the plurality of elastic body protruding portions are movable both in a stacking direction of the membrane-electrode assembly and in a horizontal direction orthogonal to the stacking direction, and
a direction in which the plurality of current collector protruding portions are movable in the horizontal direction and a direction in which the elastic body protruding portions are movable in the horizontal direction cross each other.

5. The solid oxide fuel cell according to claim 3 , wherein:
connection portions between the plurality of current collector protruding portions and the first base portion are provided in directions crossing a gas flow direction, and
the plurality of current collector protruding portions rise toward the corresponding one of the pair of electrode layers from the first base portion at the connection portions, and rising parts are bent along the gas flow direction.

6. The solid oxide fuel cell according to claim 3 , wherein:
connection portions between the plurality of current collector protruding portions and the first base portion are provided in directions crossing a gas flow direction, and
the plurality of current collector protruding portions are cantilever beams rising toward the corresponding one of the pair of electrode layers from the first base portion at the connection portions.

7. The solid oxide fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte membrane is a proton conductor.

8. The solid oxide fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein the membrane-electrode assembly is a flat plate.

9. An electrochemical cell including unit cells, comprising:
a pair of interconnectors for electrically connecting the unit cells;
a membrane-electrode assembly disposed between the pair of interconnectors and including an electrolyte membrane and a pair of electrode layers disposed with the electrolyte membrane therebetween;
a pair of current collectors, each of which has a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, and includes an abutting portion having an abutting surface abutting against a corresponding one of the pair of electrode layers and a first base portion having a first base surface being in contact with a corresponding one of the pair of interconnectors and electrically connecting the corresponding of the pair of electrode layers and the corresponding one of the pair of interconnectors, the first surface including the abutting surface and the second surface including the first base surface; and
an elastic body biasing the abutting portion of at least one current collector of the pair of current collectors toward a corresponding one of the pair of electrode layers,
wherein the elastic body includes:
a base plate having a second base surface in contact with a surface of the at least one current collector opposite to the first base surface; and
a plurality of elastic body protruding portions each protruding from the base plate toward the corresponding one of the pair of electrode layers and in contact with a surface of the at least one current collector opposite to the abutting surface to bias the abutting portion toward the corresponding one of the pair of electrode layers.

10. The solid oxide fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein the elastic body is made of stainless steel.

11. The solid oxide fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein:
the base plate comprises a plurality of cut parts partially connected to the base plate, and
the plurality of elastic body protruding portions is a rising part of the plurality of cut parts from the base plate.

12. A solid oxide fuel cell including unit cells, comprising:
a pair of interconnectors comprising a first interconnector and a second interconnector, for electrically connecting the unit cells;
a membrane-electrode assembly disposed between the first and second interconnectors and including an electrolyte membrane and a first electrode layer and a second electrode layer disposed with the electrolyte membrane therebetween, the first electrode layer facing the first interconnector and the second electrode layer facing the second interconnector;
a pair of current collectors comprising a first current collector and a second current collector; and
a first elastic body, wherein:
the first current collector has a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, and includes a first abutting portion having a first abutting surface abutting against the first electrode layer and a first base portion having a first base surface in contact with the first interconnector and electrically connecting the first electrode layer and the first interconnector, the first surface including the first abutting surface and the second surface including the first base surface,
the first elastic body is configured to bias the first abutting portion of the first current collector toward the first electrode layer, and
the first elastic body includes:
a

Assignees

• Panasonic Ip Man Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kakuwa Takashi
• Kita Hiromi
• Kamata Tomoya
• Nakamura Masatoshi
• Kuroha Tomohiro

Classifications

• Y02E60/50

  Fuel cells · CPC title

• H01M8/1246 Primary

  the electrolyte consisting of oxides · CPC title

• H01M8/2432 Primary

  Grouping of unit cells of planar configuration · CPC title

• H01M2008/1293

  Fuel cells with solid oxide electrolytes · CPC title

• H01M8/1004

  characterised by membrane-electrode assemblies [MEA] (H01M8/12 takes precedence) · CPC title