Compositional and structural gradients for fuel cell electrode materials
원문보기
IPC분류정보
국가/구분
United States(US) Patent
등록
국제특허분류(IPC7판)
H01M-004/86
H01M-008/02
H01M-004/88
출원번호
US-0345849
(2003-01-16)
등록번호
US-7291417
(2007-11-06)
발명자
/ 주소
Herman,Gregory S
Champion,David
Mardilovich,Peter
O'Neil,James
출원인 / 주소
Hewlett Packard Development Company, L.P.
인용정보
피인용 횟수 :
5인용 특허 :
12
초록
A fuel cell includes at least one electrode operatively disposed in the fuel cell, and having a catalytically active surface. The present invention further includes a mechanism for maintaining a substantially uniform maximum catalytic activity over the surface of the electrode.
대표청구항▼
What is claimed is: 1. A fuel cell, comprising: a flow passage having a gas stream flowing therethrough; and at least one anode operatively disposed in the flow passage, and having a first end region that contains LaCr(Ni)O3 and is preferentially catalytically active toward substantially unreformed
What is claimed is: 1. A fuel cell, comprising: a flow passage having a gas stream flowing therethrough; and at least one anode operatively disposed in the flow passage, and having a first end region that contains LaCr(Ni)O3 and is preferentially catalytically active toward substantially unreformed hydrocarbon fuel, and a second end region opposed to the first end region, wherein the second end region contains La(Sr)Cr(Mn)O3 and is preferentially catalytically active toward at least one of substantially reformed or partially reformed hydrocarbon fuel, byproducts thereof, and mixtures thereof. 2. The fuel cell as defined in claim 1, further comprising an inlet adjacent an entrance to the flow passage, wherein the at least one anode has an inlet end region proximate the inlet, and wherein the first end region is located at the inlet end region. 3. The fuel cell as defined in claim 1, further comprising an outlet adjacent an exit from the flow passage, wherein the at least one anode has an outlet end region proximate the outlet, and wherein the second end region is located at the outlet end region. 4. The fuel cell as defined in claim wherein the flow passage has a midpoint, wherein the at least one anode has a midpoint region proximate the midpoint, and wherein a third region containing La(Sr)CrO3 is located at the midpoint region. 5. A fuel cell, comprising: a flow passage having a gas stream flowing therethrough; and an inlet at one end of the flow passage; at least one anode operatively disposed in the flow passage, and having a first end region that contains LaCr(Ni)O3 and is preferentially catalytically active toward substantially unreformed hydrocarbon fuel, and a second end region opposed to the first end region, wherein the second end region contains La(Sr)Cr(Mn)O3 and is preferentially catalytically active toward at least one of substantially reformed or partially reformed hydrocarbon fuel, byproducts thereof, and mixtures thereof; and a manifold, operatively and fluidly connected to the flow passage, for adding at least one of reactants or oxidants in at least one area downstream from the inlet. 6. An electronic device, comprising: a load; and the fuel cell of claim 1 connected to the load. 7. A fuel cell, comprising: a flow passage having a gas stream flowing therethrough, the flow passage having a midpoint; an inlet adjacent an entrance to the flow passage; an outlet adjacent an exit from the flow passage; and at least one anode operatively disposed in the flow passage, and having a first, second and third discrete, catalytically active area, the first discrete catalytically active area containing LaCr(Ni)O3, the second discrete catalytically active area containing La(Sr)CrO3, and the third catalytically active area containing La(Sr)Cr(Mn)O3; wherein the at least one electrode has an inlet end region proximate the inlet, an outlet end region proximate the outlet, and a midpoint region proximate the midpoint, and wherein the first discrete area is located at the inlet end region, the second discrete area is located at the midpoint region, and the third discrete area is located at the outlet end region. 8. The fuel cell as defined in claim 7 wherein the first expected composition of the gas stream comprises substantially unreformed hydrocarbon fuel; wherein the second expected composition of the gas stream comprises at least one of substantially unreformed or partially reformed hydrocarbon fuel, byproducts thereof, and mixtures thereof; and wherein the third expected composition of the gas stream comprises at least one of substantially reformed or partially reformed hydrocarbon fuel, byproducts thereof, and mixtures thereof. 9. The fuel cell as defined in claim 8 wherein the structure of the third discrete area comprises pores, wherein the structure of the second discrete area comprises pores smaller than the third discrete area pores, and wherein the structure of the first discrete area comprises pores smaller than the second discrete area pores. 10. The fuel cell as defined in claim 8 wherein the structure of at least one of the first, second and third discrete areas comprises a varied pore size distribution. 11. The fuel cell as defined in claim 10 wherein the varied pore size distribution includes a dual distribution comprising a combination of large, transport pores and nanopores. 12. The fuel cell as defined in claim 7, further comprising a manifold, operatively and fluidly connected to the flow passage, for adding at least one of reactants or oxidants in at least one area downstream from the inlet. 13. A single chamber fuel cell stack, comprising: an inlet; an outlet; a flow passage disposed between the inlet and the outlet, and having a gas stream flowing therethrough; and a plurality of electrodes each having at least two discrete, catalytically active areas, each of the discrete areas having a structure and a composition, and operatively positioned within the flow passage from proximate the inlet to proximate the outlet and positions therebetween, wherein at least one of the structure or composition of one of the discrete areas is different from at least one of the composition or structure of an other of the discrete areas of each of the plurality of electrodes, the at least one of the composition or structure of each of the at least two discrete areas being predetermined based upon an expected composition of the gas stream at an area of the fuel cell stack in which the electrode is positioned. 14. The fuel cell stack as defined in claim 13 wherein the plurality of electrodes includes anodes and cathodes. 15. The fuel cell of claim 1, further comprising: an inlet at one end of the flow passage; and means, operatively and fluidly connected to the flow passage, for adding at least one of reactants or oxidants in at least one area downstream from the inlet, wherein the adding means substantially maintains a uniform maximum catalytic activity over the surface of the at least one anode. 16. The fuel cell as defined in claim 1 wherein a structure of one of the first and second end regions includes pores, and wherein a structure of an other of the second and first end regions includes pores having a size different than a size of the pores of the one of the first and second end regions. 17. A fuel cell, comprising: a flow passage having a gas stream flowing therethrough; and at least one cathode operatively disposed in the flow passage, and having a first end region preferentially catalytically active toward a gas stream substantially undepleted of oxidants, and a second end region opposed to the first end region, wherein the second end region is preferentially catalytically active toward a gas stream substantially depleted of oxidants, and wherein the first end region contains an increased iron content and a decreased platinum content compared to the second end region. 18. The fuel cell of claim 17, further comprising: an inlet at one end of the flow passage; and means, operatively and fluidly connected to the flaw passage, for adding at least one of reactants and oxidants in at least one area downstream from the inlet.
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