Chemistry: electrical current producing apparatus – product – and – With pressure equalizing means for liquid immersion operation
Patent
1993-05-14
1995-01-10
Kalafut, Stephen
Chemistry: electrical current producing apparatus, product, and
With pressure equalizing means for liquid immersion operation
429 40, H01M 812
Patent
active
053806018
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a hollow electrode for an electrochemical cell provided with at least one inlet and one outlet opening for gases, and also to an electrochemical cell which contains such an electrode.
Such an electrode and such cells are disclosed in French Patent Specification 1,403,729 which describes the use of solid electrolytes in fuel cells and also the stacking of the loose elements and the holding of said elements in a stack. The fuel cells consist of a loose stacking of metallic elements in which the hollow electrodes are porous and not gastight. The hollow electrodes are made from active metals and various materials are used for each electrode. No interconnector is present between the electrodes and a thin electrolyte layer is used.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,580 discloses a hollow electrode in which the electrode is mounted on a metal frame and in which the electrode is used with a liquid electrolyte.
Dutch Patent Application 65.05075 discloses a hollow disc-shaped electrode in which the electrode is internally provided with reinforcing means and is provided with a gas inlet pipe. The shape of the electrode can also be a polygon.
Furthermore, European Patent Specification 50,717 and European Patent Application 285,727 describe a hollow electrode.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A hollow electrode has now been found of the type described in the preamble which is characterised in that the electrode has been made from an inorganic (ceramic) material the outer side of which is gas tight which inorganic (ceramic) material exhibits both electronic and ionic conduction. The electrode according to the invention may either be a cathode or an anode. Gas tight is understood to mean a layer which is very poorly permeable to gases and is air tight. Hydrogen has a very high penetration power, but layers through which a very small amount of hydrogen can pass are also acceptable for the operation. For the cathode, a structure will in general be acceptable in which a small amount of gas can penetrate through the outer side, and even the anode is still usable if some hydrogen should leak through.
European Patent 0,063,807 mentions the existence of expansion problems with different thermal coefficients of expansion.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded view illustrating a cell having the elements in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 illustrates the structure of a hollow electrode according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 illustrates a second embodiment of a cell in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a graph of electrical resistance verses temperature;
FIG. 5 is an illustration of a further embodiment of an electrode in accordance with the present invention; and
FIG. 6 is a further schematic illustration of a cell in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
An electrochemical cell and especially a solid fuel cell can easily be made by stacking hollow electrodes according to the invention together with electrolyte and interconnector. Because of the gastight outer side, the gases cannot escape and complicated technical solutions for absorbing a difference in thermal coefficients of expansion of the various cell components are not required. The elements of said cells are mutually freely movable, which eliminates many problems in the field of thermal expansion. Other advantages over the present flat plate model are: electrolyte and interconnector, which are all made of one material, problems are avoided which relate to the adhesion between various materials such as forming interlayers; hitherto been done at the sides); because of the shape of the electrode elements and because of their gastight nature; be used; also be done in an operating setup; being made; easier to produce; active hollow anode; to be gastight, they can furthermore be very thin; lower power loss occurs.
According to an advantageous embodiment, the electrode is of plate-type construction, top and bottom being flat. This construction has the advantage that
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Article "Thin Film Solid Electrolyte Systems" John H. Kennedy Thin Film Solids, (1977) v. 43, pp. 41-92.
Jaspers Blandikus C.
Van Dongen Bernardus A. M.
Kalafut Stephen
Seed Capital Investments (SCI) B.V.
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