Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Matshushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Nobuo Eda

Makoto Uchida

Yuko Fukuoka

Yasushi Sugawara

Masahiko Ogawa

Hideo Ohara

Ken Nishimura

Akiko Ishida

Yoshinori Toyoguchi

Takashi Iijima

Yoshiyuki Ozaki

Akiyoshi Morita

Hiroshi Yoshizawa

Makoto Tsutsue

Shigeto Noya

Masaki Kitagawa

Akira Miura

Takafumi Fujiwara

Isao Kubo

Keiichi Iiyama

Kazushige Kinoshita

Yuko Aoyama

Tetsuhisa Sakai

A lithium secondary battery has high capacity and excellent current characteristics. The lithium battery comprises of a positive electrode, a negative electrode and an electrolyte; the negative electrode comprising AlOparticles not relating to the charge-and discharge reactions of the battery. The presence of the ceramics particles in the electrode leads to a decrease in the internal resistance of the battery because of the enhancement of ion conductivity in the electrode, resulting in higher capacity at high rate discharge of the lithium secondary battery.

Lithium secondary battery

Disclosed is a polymer electrolyte battery affording a high capacity density in which a layer of electrode active material mixture containing a polymer has an adequately regulated porosity and/or polymer content. The battery includes a unitary, laminated battery sheet composed of a negative electrode combined with positive electrodes, with a porous polymer separator being placed on both surfaces of the negative electrode. Each of the electrodes comprises a current collector and a layer of active material mixture disposed on both surfaces of the current collector, and the polymer is capable of absorbing and retaining nonaqueous electrolyte. The separator and the layer of electrode active material mixture have a porosity of 30 to 60%. Preferable polymer contents in the layer of active material mixture are in a range of 5 to 10 wt % for the positive electrode and in a range of 7 to 16 wt % for the negative electrode.

Polymer electrolyte battery

A polymer electrolyte fuel cell having a large economical advantage uses a gasket which includes an elastomer layer that is inexpensive, highly resistant to chemicals, particularly to acids, and exhibits a high sealability. The elastomer layer is provided with an adhesive layer, and the gasket is both easy to position and easy to assemble. The fuel cell includes unit cells each including a positive electrode, an electrolyte plate, and a negative electrode, and gaskets each arranged at the circumferential part of the unit cell alternately stacked via a separator placed therebetween. The gasket includes an elastomer layer and an adhesive layer, with the elastomer layer being adhered to at least one side of the separator via the adhesive layer.

Fuel cell having a gasket with an adhesive layer

A secondary battery with non-aqueous electrolyte having a high voltage and energy density and a superior cycle property, characterized in that a cathode comprises composite oxides containing lithium and an anode comprises composite carbon materials containing graphite spherical particles and carbon fibers. The carbon fiber improves the stiffness of the anode depolarizing mix to prevent the body made thereof from swelling and decomposing.

Secondary battery or cell with a non-aqueous electrolyte

A measuring method for determining the specific surface area available for reaction of a noble metal catalyst of an electrode for use in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. The method includes measuring the total specific surface area of the noble metal catalyst and the specific surface area of the noble metal catalyst mixed with a polymer electrolyte by detecting the adsorption amounts of carbon monoxide upon exposure to carbon monoxide after reduction in hydrogen, and subtracting the latter from the former. Also provided is an electrode material for use in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell having excellent polarization characteristics by controlling the utilization of a noble metal catalyst determined from the total specific surface area and specific surface area available for reaction of the noble metal catalyst. The electrode material includes a noble metal catalyst powder and a polymer electrolyte, wherein the utilization ratio of the noble metal catalyst is at least 40% of the saturation value of the utilization of the noble metal catalyst powder.

Design for an electrode

A fuel cell device, wherein, after an output voltage from a main body of a fuel cell is converted using a converter, the relation between the resultant predetermined output voltage V,and an output voltage V,from a secondary battery is so set as to satisfy V,>V,. When, at the time of a sudden change of an external load, the output voltage V from the main body of the fuel cell becomes lower than a predetermined voltage V,, an output to a charge controlling unit is stopped. When the output voltage V from the main body of the fuel cell is lowered even further and becomes lower than a predetermined voltage V,, an output to an auxiliary device, which is necessary for driving the fuel cell device, is switched from the output from the converter to the output from the secondary battery.

Fuel cell device

A gas diffusion layer including an electroconductive porous material and 16-55% by weight of fluororesin added to the electroconductive porous material is used for at least one of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of a membrane/electrodes assembly of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell. As a result, the water-retaining property of the inside of the membrane/electrodes assembly is improved without hindering gas diffusion, thus enabling polymer electrolyte to be moistened with water formed at the positive electrode, and thereby providing a polymer electrolyte fuel cell which operates by using unhumidified gas.

Polymer electrolyte fuel cell

A gelled polymer electrolyte having a high mechanical strength and a high ion conductivity and a lithium polymer battery using the same electrolyte are disclosed. The gelled polymer electrolyte comprises a polymer alloy and an organic electrolyte solution, wherein the polymer alloy includes a polymer which is hardly soluble in the organic electrolyte solution and another polymer which is soluble in the organic electrolyte solution. The lithium polymer battery comprises a negative electrode including metallic lithium, a lithium alloy, carbon or an inorganic compound, and a positive electrode including an active material of a metal oxide capable of intercalating and deintercalating lithium in a reversible manner, such as LiCoO.sub.2, LiNiO.sub.2 or the like, and the gelled polymer electrolyte placed between both electrodes.

Polymer electrolyte and lithium polymer battery using the same

A secondary battery with non-aqueous electrolyte having a high voltage and capacity and an improved cycle property, characterized in that the battery has an anode which is comprised of graphite spherical particles provided with a lamellar structure and an optically anisotropic and single phase such as meso-carbon microbeads; and a cathode which is comprised of composite oxides containing lithium.

An electrode of solid polymer electrolyte fuel cells is produced by a step of preparing a mixed liquid containing an organic solvent, a noble metal catalyst-supporting carbon powder and a colloid of a solid polymer electrolyte having a particle size of from 1 nm to less than 400 nm, the colloid being adsorbed to the carbon powder and a step of forming an electrode by coating the mixed liquid on one side of a gas-diffusible layer. The solid polymer electrolyte is effectively adsorbed to the surface of the catalyst and thus a wide reaction area can be secured. Furthermore, thickness of the solid polymer electrolyte layer can be controlled to one in which hydrogen and oxygen can be easily diffused.

Solid polymer type fuel cell and method for manufacturing the same

A miniaturized fuel cell assembly to power portable electronic equipment includes a hydride hydrogen storage unit, a control unit for controlling the flow of hydrogen, a hydrogen supply device interconnecting the hydrogen storage unit and the fuel cell body, and an air feed device to supply oxygen necessary for the generation of electricity. The fuel cell assembly may also have an air feed device to cool the interior of the equipment, including a water retention device for recovering and retaining water formed in the fuel cell body, and a humidifying device using the recovered water to humidify the hydrogen to be supplied to the fuel cell body. The miniaturized fuel cell assembly facilitates the effective transfer of waste heat from the fuel cell to the hydrogen storage unit, and as a result of its ability to be used repeatedly, can be utilized for a greater length of time than a conventional primary or secondary power cell.

Miniaturized fuel cell assembly

Measuring method of the specific surface area available for reaction of

The invention provides a method for manufacturing a solid polymer electrolyte electrolyte fuel cell which exhibits higher performances by sufficiently and uniformly contacting the solid polymer electrolyte with a catalyst to increase the reaction area inside the electrode. The method comprises the steps of dispersing a carbon powder supporting a noble metal catalyst in an organic solvent to obtain a dispersion, mixing the resulting dispersion with an alcoholic solution of a solid polymer electrolyte to produce a colloid of the solid polymer electrolyte and simultaneously to obtain a mixed solution in which said colloid is adsorbed to the carbon powder, applying the mixed solution on one side of a gas-diffusion layer to produce an electrode, and pressing the resulting electrode on at least one side of a solid polymer electrolyte membrane to integrate them. Furthermore, a fluorocarbon polymer can be added, to thereby form a gas channel without excessive covering of the catalyst and increase gas permeability of the electrode. Thus, a solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell which exhibits high performances in a high current density area can be further provided.

Method for manufacturing solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell

The sealing of the top and/or bottom of the cylindrical positive electrode of an air-cell is improved and leakage of the electrolyte from the jellied zinc negative electrode disposed within the positive electrode which is constituted of a collector layer, catalyst layer, and a porous layer is prevented. By utilizing a positive electrode constituted of a metallic collector layer made of a metal mesh or such, a catalyst layer disposed around said collector, and a fluororesin porous layer as an air diffusion layer, an outer cup and an inner cup are pressed on the top of the positive electrode in order to prevent the leakage of the electrolyte. The possible leakage of electrolyte from the bottom of the positive electrode can be prevented by providing a resin sealing body with a ring shaped indentation fitted to the bottom of a positive electrode, and by inserting this resin sealing body into the positive electrode cannister, and by pressing the side wall of the positive electrode cannister against the side of the resin sealing body, in order to fit the bottom of the positive electrode to the indentation of the resin sealing body.

Cylindrical air-cell

The invention provides a solid polymer electrolyte having high performances in which the reaction area of electrode is increased by uniformly dispersing and bonding a solid polymer electrolyte and a catalyst and the ability of gas feeding to the reaction site is improved by adding a fluoropolymer so that the catalyst is not excessively coated. A method for making the fuel cell is also provided. The electrode provided on at least one side of a solid polymer electrolyte membrane is formed by coating on one side of a gas-diffusible layer a mixed dispersion of a noble metal catalyst, a carbon fine powder and a colloidal dispersion of a solid polymer electrolyte, the colloidal dispersion being prepared using an organic solvent having a polar group other than hydroxyl group in the molecule and having a carbon chain of 1-8 carbon atoms which bonds to the polar group or having a dielectric constant of 3-10.

Growing community of inventors

Hirakata, Japan

Nobuo Eda