Direct alcohol fuel cell

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11699798-B2
Application number	US-201917299822-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 3, 2019
Priority date	Dec 6, 2018
Publication date	Jul 11, 2023
Grant date	Jul 11, 2023

Abstract

A direct alcohol fuel cell having an inner housing, and a proton exchange membrane separating an anode section from a cathode section. The anode section contains an anode collection element electrically connected to an anode catalyst that is in diffusive communication with a fuel supply. The cathode section contains a cathode collection element having one or more ventilation holes is electrically connected to a cathode catalyst. An oleophobic filter and/or an anion-exchange membrane is provided, which cathode catalyst via the one or more ventilation holes and the oleophobic filter and/or the anion-exchange membrane is in diffusive communication with a gaseous oxidant. The inner housing has a bottom and walls extending from the bottom to contain the anode section, the PEM and the cathode section, the bottom and/or the walls having holes allowing fluid communication from a fuel supply to the anode section. The fuel cell is suited for microelectronic devices.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A direct alcohol fuel cell (DAFC) comprising an inner housing, and a proton exchange membrane (PEM) separating an anode section from a cathode section, wherein the anode section contains:
an anode collection element electrically connected to an anode catalyst, which anode catalyst is in diffusive communication with a fuel supply,
and wherein the cathode section contains:
a cathode collection element having one or more ventilation holes, which cathode collection element is electrically connected to a cathode catalyst,
which cathode catalyst via the one or more ventilation holes is in diffusive communication with a gaseous oxidant,
the inner housing having a bottom and walls extending from the bottom to a length sufficient to contain the anode section, the PEM and the cathode section, the bottom and/or the walls having holes allowing fluid communication from a fuel supply to the anode section.

2. The DAFC according to claim 1 , wherein the inner housing is made from an electrically conductive metal.

3. The DAFC according to claim 1 , wherein the inner housing is made from an electrically non-conductive thermoplastic elastomer.

4. The DAFC according to claim 3 , wherein the inner housing is coated with an electrically conductive metallic surface or equipped with tracks of an electrically conductive metal.

5. The DAFC according to claim 1 , wherein the inner housing is the anode collection element or the cathode collection element.

6. The DAFC according to claim 1 , wherein the PEM has a first dimension and a second dimension, the ratio of the first dimension to the second dimension is in the range of 1:10 to 10:1.

7. The DAFC according to claim 1 , wherein the anode section contains a pervaporation membrane.

8. The DAFC according to claim 1 , wherein the cathode section contains an anion-exchange membrane.

9. The DAFC according to claim 1 , wherein the DAFC further comprises an external housing with a fuel reservoir in fluid communication with the holes of the inner housing.

10. A microelectronic device comprising a DAFC according to claim 1 .

11. A method of operating a DAFC, the method comprising the steps of:
providing a DAFC according to claim 1 ;
supplying a fuel comprising an aqueous solution of methanol at a concentration of at least 10 M to the DAFC.

Assignees

• Widex As

Inventors

• Lund-Olesen Torsten
• Vestentoft Kasper
• Tynelius Oskar
• Bonde Jacob Lindner
• Hales Jan Harry
• Christensen Leif Hojslet

Classifications

• H01M8/1011

  Direct alcohol fuel cells [DAFC], e.g. direct methanol fuel cells [DMFC] · CPC title

• H01M8/0228

  in the form of layered or coated products · CPC title

• H01M2008/1095

  Fuel cells with polymeric electrolytes · CPC title

• H01M8/04186 Primary

  of liquid-charged or electrolyte-charged reactants · CPC title

• H01M8/0206

  Metals or alloys · CPC title