JPS6240827B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a fuel cell using gaseous fuel or liquid fuel, in which adjacent unit cells are electrically and efficiently connected.

In general, a fuel cell is said to be a type of DC generator that can continuously generate electricity as long as fuel is supplied to the fuel electrode and oxidizer is supplied to the oxidizer electrode. Fuel cells, which directly convert the chemical energy of fuel into electrical energy, consist of a fuel electrode, an oxidizer electrode, a fuel chamber, an oxidizer chamber, and an electrolyte chamber, and are stacked in large numbers to obtain a specified electrical output. It is composed of
However, electrical loss occurs in the process of electrically connecting these single cells, which has the drawback of causing excess heat to be generated, resulting in an increase in battery temperature and a decrease in power generation efficiency. That is, conventionally, a metal output terminal is welded around the electrode in order to collect current from the electrode, a part of which is exposed outside the separator that forms the fuel chamber or oxidizer chamber, and these are connected externally. was. For this reason, the output terminal that electrically connects adjacent single cells becomes longer, and the loss in this portion cannot be ignored. Moreover, the larger the electrode area, the larger the loss. In order to solve these drawbacks, the present invention provides a structure in which adjacent unit cells are electrically connected over a short distance.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in comparison with a conventional fuel cell. FIG. 1 shows a conventional electrode in which an output terminal 2 is welded around an electrode 1. FIG. 2 shows a fuel cell in which unit cells having a conventional connection structure consisting of a fuel electrode 4, an oxidizer electrode 5, a fuel chamber 9, an oxidizer chamber 10, and an electrolyte chamber 6 are stacked. 7 is the fuel chamber 9
8 is a fuel chamber separator forming an oxidizer chamber 10, and 8 is an oxidizer chamber separator forming an oxidizer chamber 10. These cells are electrically connected via connection terminals 3.

Since conventional fuel cells have such a structure, they have the above-mentioned drawbacks.

On the other hand, in Fig. 3, electrodes are arranged in multiple small areas in electrical continuity, and a conductive elastic material is attached to the electrodes to electrically connect adjacent cells. This figure shows a fuel cell according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which each electrode, a fuel electrode 4' and an oxidizer electrode 5', is divided into four in the vertical direction, with a small area 4'a of the fuel electrode, a small area 4'a of the fuel electrode, and a small area 4'a of the oxidizer electrode. A current collecting material 11 such as a nickel wire mesh, which is the base of the electrode, is placed on the fuel and oxidizer chambers 9 and 10 side of the separation zone.
is exposed, and this current collector 11 electrically connects a plurality of small areas obtained by dividing the electrode, and on the opposite side of the electrolyte chamber 6, an insulating frame 12 blocks the electrolyte. . A conductive elastic material 13 is attached to the separator 14 constituting each of the chambers 9 and 10, and its tip is in close contact with a small-area current collector 11 of each of the fuel electrode 4' and the oxidizer electrode 5'. Figure 4 is 600cm ²
A single cell with an electrode area, a conventional fuel cell and a silicon elastic material doped with silver are combined with a conductive elastic material 13
This figure shows a comparison of the characteristics with a fuel cell according to an embodiment of the present invention used in a battery using hydrogen as a fuel and oxygen as ^an oxidizing agent.
A performance improvement of 50 mV was obtained. Furthermore, the generation of heat, which had been a problem in the past, could be sufficiently suppressed.

As described above, the present invention has the advantage of improving power generation efficiency and suppressing generation of excess heat, and therefore has great industrial value.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front view of a conventional electrode, Fig. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a conventional fuel cell, Fig. 3 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a fuel cell showing an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 4 is a conventional fuel cell. FIG. 3 is a characteristic comparison curve diagram between the fuel cell of the present invention and the fuel cell of the present invention. 1 is an electrode, 4' is a fuel electrode, 4'a is a small area of the fuel electrode, 5' is an oxidizer electrode, 5'a is a small area of an oxidizer electrode,
13 is a conductive elastic material, and 14 is a separator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A unit cell having an oxidizer electrode and a fuel electrode arranged opposite to each other and an electrolyte located between the two electrodes is constructed by combining an oxidizer chamber that supplies an oxidizer to the oxidizer electrode and a fuel chamber that supplies fuel to the fuel electrode. In a fuel cell in which a large number of fuel cells are stacked with separators formed facing each other on both sides, a current collecting material is provided on a part of the oxidizer chamber side surface of the oxidizer electrode and a part of the fuel chamber side surface of the fuel electrode, respectively. A fuel cell characterized in that a conductive elastic material is closely disposed between the current collectors by penetrating the separator and exposing the current collectors.