Kobe Steel, Ltd.

Jun Suzuki

Toshiki Sato

Shinichi Tanifuji

Yoshinori Ito

Jun Hisamoto

Satoru Takada

Hirotaka Ito

Nobuhiro Kobayashi

Takayuki Tsubota

Sho Katsura

Takashi Yashiki

Mamoru Hosokawa

Kasumi Yanagisawa

Shoo Katsura

Masahito Fukuda

A process for producing a separator material suitable for fuel cells, wherein the separator includes a pure titanium or a titanium alloy as a base material. The method comprises an application step and a heat treatment step. The application step is a step of applying a carbon black to a surface of the base material which has a carbon concentration, at a position located at a depth of 10 nm from an outermost surface, of 10 atom % or less. The heat treatment step subjects the base material, which has undergone the application step, to a heat treatment in a low-partial-oxygen-pressure atmosphere having a partial oxygen pressure of 0.0667 Pa or more and 25 Pa or less.

Fuel cell separator material and method for manufacturing said material

Provided is an electrode material with excellent tab weldability and realizing decreased contact resistance with an active material layer. A collector (electrode material) () is provided with a metal foil substrate () and a carbon-containing conductive substance (), and is configured such that, when observed from a square viewfield with a surface area of 0.1 mm, the conductive substance () is arranged in islands on the surface of the substrate () with a 1-80% coverage ratio of the conductive substance () on the surface of the substrate ().

Electrode material and manufacturing method thereof

A fuel cell separator () which comprises a base () constituted of titanium or a titanium alloy and a conductive carbon layer () that was formed by press-bonding a carbon powder to the base () and that covers the surface thereof; an interlayer () having been formed between the base () and the carbon layer (). The interlayer () has been formed by a heat treatment in an atmosphere containing a slight amount of oxygen, contains titanium carbide yielded by the reaction of the Ti of the base () with the C of the carbon layer (), and has an oxygen content of 0.1-40 at %.

Fuel cell separator

Disclosed is a titanium fuel cell separator having excellent conductivity and durability. In the disclosed titanium fuel cell separator (), a carbon layer () is formed on the surface of a substrate () formed from pure titanium or a titanium alloy. The carbon layer () comprises graphite which is orientated so as to be parallel to the (002) plane of the carbon layer (). The deposition amount of the carbon layer () is at least 2 &#x3bc;g/cm.

Titanium fuel cell separator

Disclosed is a titanium fuel cell separator having excellent conductivity and durability. In the disclosed titanium fuel cell separator (), a carbon layer () is formed on the surface of a substrate () formed from pure titanium or a titanium alloy. An intermediate layer () is formed on the interface between the substrate () and the carbon layer (). The intermediary layer () has lined-up granular titanium-carbide in the direction parallel to the carbon layer ().

A reflective film laminate is provided with high productivity and at low cost in which a protective film with minimized pinholes is provided to improve the alkali resistance and warm water resistance of the reflective film laminate including a pure Al film or an Al-based alloy film so that a reflectivity reduction resulting from the elution or oxidization of the Al film in an alkaline or warm water environment is less likely to occur. The reflective film laminate of the present invention includes, over a substrate, a pure Al film or an Al-based alloy film as a first layer, and an oxide film of a metal containing one or more elements selected from the group consisting of Zr, Cr, Y, Nb, Hf, Ta, W, Ti, Si, and Mo as a second layer over the first layer. The thickness of the second layer is 0.1 to 10 nm.

Reflective film laminate

The present invention provides a reflection film, a reflection film laminate which are less likely to undergo agglomeration or sulfidation of an Ag thin film due to heat, and a LED, an organic EL display, and an organic EL illuminating instrument, each including any of these. The reflection film in accordance with the present invention is a reflection film formed on a substrate, characterized by being an Ag alloy film including Ag as a main component, and Bi in an amount of 0.02 atomic percent or more, and further including one or more of V, Ge, and Zn in a total content of 0.02 atomic percent or more, and satisfying the following expression (1):7&#xd7;[A]+13&#xd7;[Bi]&#x2266;8&#x2003;&#x2003;(1)where [A] (atomic percent) denotes the content of one or more of the V, Ge, and Zn, and [Bi] (atomic percent) denotes the content of Bi. Whereas, a reflection film laminate in accordance with the present invention is a reflection film laminate formed on a substrate, characterized by including: a first film comprising an Ag alloy film including Ag as a main component, and Bi in an amount of 0.02 atomic percent or more, and further including one or more of V, Ge, and Zn in a total content of 0.02 atomic percent or more, and satisfying the expression (1); and a second film including a Si oxide formed on the first film.

Reflection film, reflection film laminate, LED, organic EL display, and organic EL illuminating instrument

A reflecting film including: an Ag or Ag-base alloy thin film of an Ag-base alloy containing at least one element among Au, Pt, Pd, Bi, and rare-earth elements as a first layer; a film of an oxide or oxynitride of at least one element among Si, Al and Ti having a thickness between 5 and 50 nm as a second layer deposited on the first layer; and a film having a thickness between 10 and 100 nm formed by a plasma polymerization process as a third layer deposited on the second layer.

Reflecting film excellent in cohesion resistance and sulfur resistance

Disclosed are a separator for a fuel cell realizing both the high electrical conductivity and the corrosion resistance and enabling using stably for a long period of time in the fuel cell and a manufacturing method for it. The separator for a fuel cellincludes a substratecomposed of pure aluminum or aluminum alloy and a plating layerformed on the substrate, wherein the plating layerhas a copper layerformed in the substrateside and a tin layerformed on the copper layer, the tin layeris formed in an uppermost layer, the thickness of the copper layeris 0.10 &#x3bc;m or above, and the value obtained by dividing the thickness of the tin layerby the thickness of the copper layeris 0.1-50.

Separator for fuel cell and manufacturing method therefor

It is an object of the present invention to provide a titanium electrode material which is low in cost and is excellent in electric conductivity, corrosion resistance and hydrogen absorption resistance, and a surface treatment method of a titanium electrode material. A titanium electrode material includes: on the surface of a titanium material including pure titanium or a titanium alloy, a titanium oxide layer having a thickness of 3 nm or more and 75 nm or less, and having an atomic concentration ratio of oxygen and titanium (O/Ti) at a site having the maximum oxygen concentration in the layer of 0.3 or more and 1.7 or less; and an alloy layer including at least one noble metal selected from Au, Pt, and Pd, and at least one non-noble metal selected from Zr, Nb, Ta, and Hf, having a content ratio of the noble metal and the non-noble metal of 35:65 to 95:5 by atomic ratio, and having a thickness of 2 nm or more, on the titanium oxide layer. The surface treatment method of a titanium electrode material includes a titanium oxide layer formation step, an alloy layer formation step, and a heat treatment step.

Titanium electrode material and surface treatment method of titanium electrode material

A metal separatorfor a fuel cell according to the invention is a metal separator for a fuel cell manufactured by using a metal substratewith a flat surface, or with concave gas flow paths formed on at least a part of the surface. The metal separatorincludes an acid-resistant metal filmformed over the surface of the metal substrate, and containing one or more kinds of non-noble metals selected from the group comprised of Zr, Nb, and Ta, and a conductive alloy filmformed over the acid-resistant metal film, and containing one or more kinds of noble metals selected from the group comprised of Au and Pt, and one or more kinds of non-noble metals selected from the group comprised of Zr, Nb, and Ta. A method for manufacturing the metal separator for a fuel cell according to the invention includes a step Sof depositing an acid-resistant metal film, and a step Sof depositing a conductive alloy film. With this structure, the invention provides the metal separator for a fuel cell with an excellent acid resistance and a low contact resistance, and a manufacturing method thereof.

Metal separator for fuel cell and manufacturing method thereof

The present invention concerns an alloy film for a metal separator for a fuel cell characterized by containing at least one noble metal element selected from Au and Pt and at least one non-noble metal element selected from the group consisting of Ti, Zr, Nb, Hf, and Ta, at a content ratio of noble metal element/non-noble metal element of 35/65 to 95/5, and having a film thickness of 2 nm or more. The present invention also relates to a manufacturing method of an alloy film for the metal separator for the fuel cell and a target material for sputtering, as well as the metal separator and the fuel sell. The alloy film for the metal separator for the fuel cell according to the invention is excellent in the corrosion resistance, has low contact resistance, can maintain the low contact resistance for a long time even in a corrosive environment, and is excellent further in the productivity.

Alloy film for a metal separator for a fuel cell, a manufacturing method thereof and a target material for sputtering, as well as a metal separator, and a fuel cell

Disclosed is anode for use in a lithium ion secondary battery. The anode includes an anode current collector and an anode active material arranged thereon, in which the anode active material contains amorphous carbon and at least one metal dispersed in the amorphous carbon, and the at least one metal is selected from: 30 to 70 atomic percent of Si; and 1 to 40 atomic percent of Sn. The anode gives a lithium ion secondary battery that has a high charge/discharge capacity and is resistant to deterioration of its anode active material even after repetitive charge/discharge cycles.

Anode for lithium ion secondary battery, production method thereof, and lithium ion secondary battery using the same

A separator for a fuel cell comprising a titanium alloy substrate containing at least one noble metal element selected from platinum group elements, Au and Ag; and a layer of a mixture formed on the titanium alloy substrate, said mixture comprising the noble metal element precipitated from the titanium alloy substrate and titanium oxide, and said layer having an average thickness of up to 200 nm; wherein the mixture layer on the surface and the titanium alloy substrate have a conductivity in terms of contact resistance as determined by the following method of up to 12 m&#x3a9;&#xb7;cm. The contact resistance is determined by placing a carbon cloth having an average thickness of 0.3 mm on opposite surfaces of the titanium alloy substrate having the mixture layer formed thereon; sandwiching the titanium alloy material with a pair of copper electrodes via the carbon cloth, the copper electrodes each having a contact area with the titanium alloy material of 1 cm; measuring voltage drop between the carbon cloths by using a four terminal ohmmeter while pressing the copper electrodes against the titanium alloy material at a surface pressure of 5 kg/cmby using a hydraulic press and applying an electric current of 7.4 mA between the copper electrodes; and calculating the contact resistance from the measured value.

Growing community of inventors

Kobe, Japan

Jun Suzuki