A solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell comprises a membrane electrode assembly comprising a polymer electrolyte disposed between an anode electrode and a cathode electrode, the anode and cathode electrodes each comprising a catalyst, a central region and a peripheral region, wherein the peripheral region of the cathode electrode comprises a cathode edge barrier layer; a fluid impermeable seal in contact with at least a portion of the anode and cathode peripheral regions and the cathode edge barrier layer; an anode flow field plate adjacent the anode electrode; and a cathode flow field plate adjacent the cathode electrode, wherein the cathode flow field separator plate comprises a cathode peripheral flow channel and at least one cathode central flow channel; wherein at least a portion of the cathode edge barrier layer traverses at least a portion of the cathode peripheral flow channel.

Disclosed are an electrode including a porous substrate, a membrane-electrode assembly for a fuel cell including the same and a method of manufacturing the same. In the method of manufacturing the membrane-electrode assembly, the amount of a catalyst that is loaded depending on the position is applied in a gradational manner, thus efficiently using the catalyst, thereby reducing costs owing to the use of a decreased amount of the metal catalyst. Further, the membrane-electrode assembly includes the electrode including a porous substrate, thus making it easy to select hot-pressing conditions and increasing processing efficiency. The porous substrate is hydrophobic and the pore size in the electrode is not decreased compared to conventional electrodes, thus reducing flooding and generating various operation regions. The electrode including the porous substrate can minimize electrode loss, thus improving electrode durability.

An electrode structure of a flow battery. A density of the vertical tow in the electrode fiber is larger than the density of the parallel tow. In the electrode fiber per unit volume, the quantity ratio of the vertical tow to the parallel tow is at least 6:4. The electrode structure includes an odd number of layers of the electrode fibers, and the porosity of other layers is larger than that of the center layer. The electrode structure includes the vertical tows, so that, the contact area between the outer surface of the electrode and the adjacent component is increased and the contact resistance is reduced; the electrode has good mechanical properties; the contact resistance of such structure is reduced by 30%-50%; and the layers of the electrode have different thickness depending on the porosity. After compression, the layers with optimized thickness have a consistent porosity.

The present invention provides a membrane electrode assembly of a fuel cell, comprising a gas diffusion layer, a microporous layer, a catalytic layer, and an electrolyte membrane that are sequentially stacked. In the direction of an air flow path, the thickness of the microporous layer decreases progressively, the thickness of the catalytic layer increases progressively, and the total thickness of the microporous layer and the catalytic layer keeps consistent. The present application also provides a preparation method for the membrane electrode assembly of a fuel cell. The membrane electrode assembly of a fuel cell provided in the present application can balance water content of a gas inlet area and a gas outlet area of the fuel cell, and finally improves the stability of the fuel cell at different temperatures and humidity levels, thereby implementing functions such as improving the durability and decreasing a catalyst load.

The present invention provides a microporous layer structure of a fuel cell, comprising: a microporous layer having high water vapor transmission rate and a microporous layer having low water vapor transmission rate that are sequentially stacked. In the direction of an air flow path, the thickness of the microporous layer having high water vapor transmission rate increases progressively, the thickness of the microporous layer having low water vapor transmission rate decreases progressively, and the total thickness of the microporous layer structure keeps consistent. At an air inlet, the thickness of the microporous layer having high water vapor transmission rate is smaller than that of the microporous layer having low water vapor transmission rate. At an air outlet, the thickness of the microporous layer having high water vapor transmission rate is greater than that of the microporous layer having low water vapor transmission rate. The present application also provides a preparation method for the microporous layer structure and a membrane electrode assembly of a fuel cell. The microporous layer structure of a fuel cell provided in the present application can balance water content of a gas inlet area and a gas outlet area of the fuel cell, and finally improves the stability of the fuel cell at different temperatures and humidity levels, thereby implementing functions such as improving durability.

The invention relates to a membrane electrode assembly (15) for a fuel cell (10), comprising a membrane (11) on each side of which is disposed a catalytic layer (12, 13), and on this a gas diffusion layer (30). It is provided that the gas diffusion layer (30) comprises a layer with electrically conductive particles (35), and a portion of the particles (35) is arranged directly adjacent to the catalytic layer (12, 13).

The electrochemical cell includes an anode, a cathode active layer, and a solid electrolyte layer disposed between the anode and the cathode active layer. The cathode active layer includes a first region which is disposed facing the solid electrolyte layer, and a second region which is disposed on the first region. An average particle diameter of first constituent particles which constitute the first region is smaller than an average particle diameter of second constituent particles which constitute the second region.

An electrode structure of a flow battery, a flow battery stack, and a sealing structure of the flow battery stack, wherein the density of the vertical tow in the electrode fiber is larger than the density of the parallel tow. In the electrode fiber per unit volume, the quantity ratio of the vertical tow to the parallel tow is at least 6:4. The electrode structure is composed of an odd number of layers of the electrode fibers, and the porosity of other layers is larger than the porosity of the center layer. The electrode structure is mainly composed of the vertical tows perpendicular to the surface of the electrode, so that, firstly, the contact area between the outer surface of the electrode and the adjacent component can be increased and the contact resistance can be reduced, secondly, the electrode is endowed with good mechanical properties, compared with the original structure, the contact resistance of such structure is reduced by 30%-50%; and the layers of the electrode have different thickness depending on the porosity, after compression, the layers with optimized thickness have a consistent porosity, this compressed uniform structure avoids uneven mass transfer phenomena when the electrolyte flows through the electrode, and reduces the concentration polarization of the battery and thereby improving the battery energy output under the given power.

A PEM fuel or electrolysis cell with an extended lifetime, improved performance and uniform and stable operation is disclosed wherein a membrane electrode assembly is provided with a gradient of one or more properties in combination with a modification of one or more control parameters of the cell during its operation.

A fuel cell FC includes a cell structure 1 in which an anode electrode layer 11, an electrolyte layer 13 and a cathode electrode layer 15 are stacked. The anode electrode layer 11 is arranged in the middle, and has an electrode reacting part 11 having a thermal expansion coefficient greater than a thermal expansion coefficient of the electrolyte layer, and an outer peripheral part 113 arranged adjacent to the electrode reacting part 111 on an outer periphery of the electrode reacting part 111, the outer peripheral part 113 having a thermal expansion coefficient smaller than the thermal expansion coefficient of the electrode reacting part 111. The fuel cell FC is arranged on the anode electrode layer side of the cell structure 1, and further includes a metallic supporting plate 2 that supports the cell structure 1.