The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 22, 2009
Filed:
Apr. 02, 2008
Takaaki Mizukami, Hitachi, JP;
Yuuki Okuda, Hitachi, JP;
Takaaki Mizukami, Hitachi, JP;
Yuuki Okuda, Hitachi, JP;
Hitachi, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A fuel cell comprises an anode oxidizing a fuel, a cathode reducing an oxidizing agent, a polymer electrolyte disposed between the anode and the cathode, whereby an assembly is constituted by the anode, cathode and polymer electrolyte, a pair of gas diffusion layers disposed at both sides of the assembly of the anode, and the cathode, a bipolar plate for providing the fuel to the gas diffusion layer, and another bipolar plate for providing the oxidizing agent to the gas diffusion layer, wherein at least one of the gas diffusion layers includes a porous gas diffusion layer substrate having a hydrophilic surface layer, and wherein particles of a water-repellent material are dispersed in pores of the porous gas diffusion layer substrate. This results in a higher cell voltage and a higher power at a high current density, prevention of a flooding and a longer cell lifetime.