A manufacturing method for a fuel cell includes the steps of: (a) preparing a stack and separators in a pair arranged in such a manner as to hold the stack therebetween; (b) forming a separator-bonded stack by bonding the separators in a pair and a sealing part to each other; and (c) warping a membrane electrode assembly with the bonded sealing part in a gap by reducing the temperature of the separator-bonded stack to cause thermal shrinkage of the separators in a pair, thereby moving the sealing part with the bonded separators in a pair inward.

The invention relates to a fuel cell (1) for a fuel cell stack (11), comprising a polymer membrane (2) which serves as an electrolyte and has respectively on both sides a catalyst layer (3, 4) for forming an anode (3) on the one side and a cathode (4) on the other side, a gas diffusion layer (5) and a bipolar plate (6) being applied to each of the two analyst layers (3, 4). According to the invention, a short-circuit element (7) is applied, preferably printed, to at least one bipolar plate (6). namely on the side facing away from the gas diffusion layer (5). The invention also relates to a fuel cell stack (11) and to a inetliod for operating a fuel cell stack (11).

A method of maintaining a thermal balance in a solid oxide reversible fuel cell system comprising a solid oxide reversible fuel cell, an air intake for providing air to the solid oxide reversible fuel cell, and a steam reformer fluidly coupled to the solid oxide fuel cell for providing fuel to the solid oxide reversible fuel cell. The method comprising operating the solid oxide reversible fuel cell system in a forward mode in which the steam former receives natural gas and produces hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide to be provided to the solid oxide reversible fuel cell, and operating the solid oxide reversible fuel cell system in a reverse mode in which the steam reformer receives hydrogen gas and carbon dioxide from the solid oxide reversible fuel cell and produces natural gas and water.

A fuel cell module includes a stack including a plurality of fuel cells stacked together, at least one dummy cell in contact with the stack at an end portion of the stack in a stacking direction, a reactant gas supply path configured to supply a reactant gas that is either a fuel gas or an oxidant gas to the fuel cells and the dummy cell, and a reactant gas discharge path in communication with the fuel cells and the dummy cell. The fuel cells and the dummy cell each include a reactant gas flow path configured to cause the reactant gas from the reactant gas supply path to flow toward the reactant gas discharge path. Pressure loss of the reactant gas flow path of the dummy cell is smaller than pressure loss of the reactant gas flow path of the fuel cells.

A polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell assembly, and a method for making the assembly, are provided. An exemplary method includes forming a functionalized zeolite templated carbon (ZTC), including forming a CaX zeolite, depositing carbon in the CaX zeolite using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process to form a carbon/zeolite composite, treating the carbon/zeolite composite with a solution including hydrofluoric acid to form a ZTC, and treating the ZTC to add catalyst sites, forming the functionalized ZTC. The method further includes incorporating the functionalized ZTC into electrodes, forming a membrane electrode assembly (MEA), and forming the PEM fuel cell assembly

A layer system (1) for coating a bipolar plate (2), including at least one cover layer (1a) made of tin oxide, wherein at least one metal oxide of the group comprising tantalum oxide, niobium oxide, titanium oxide, zirconium oxide, and hafnium oxide is homogenously dissolved in the tin oxide, and the electric conductivity of the cover layer (1a) is greater than or equal to 10.sup.2 S/cm. A bipolar plate (2, 2′) is also provided with an anode side and a cathode side, comprising a substrate (2a, 2a′) and such a layer system (1), and to a fuel cell (10) or an electrolyzer comprising such a bipolar plate (2, 2′).

The invention relates to a method for producing a fuel cell with a membrane electrode assembly (1), wherein at least sections thereof are surrounded by a sub-gasket (2). According to the invention, in order to form the sub-gasket (2), at least sections of the membrane electrode assembly (1) are introduced into a film sleeve (3), the film sleeve (3) is pressed together so that at least regions of two film sleeve halves lie on top of one another, and the overlapping film sleeve halves are connected, preferably adhered, to one another.

The invention also relates to a fuel cell.

An apparatus for splitting the power of fuel cell systems in a vehicle comprises: a first fuel cell system and at least one further fuel cell system, which are configured to convert hydrogen and oxygen into water in order to generate electrical energy therefrom, and a controller unit, which is configured to actuate the first fuel cell system and the further fuel cell system with an electrical signal. The apparatus is configured to actuate the first fuel cell system and the further fuel cell system with the electrical signal in time offset fashion.

A method for producing a microporous material comprising the steps of: providing an ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE); providing a filler; providing a processing plasticizer; adding the filler to the UHMWPE in a mixture being in the range of from about 1:9 to about 15:1 filler to UHMWPE by weight; adding the processing plasticizer to the mixture; extruding the mixture to form a sheet from the mixture; calendering the sheet; extracting the processing plasticizer from the sheet to produce a matrix comprising UHMWPE and the filler distributed throughout the matrix; stretching the microporous material in at least one direction to a stretch ratio of at least about 1.5 to produce a stretched microporous matrix; and subsequently calendering the stretched microporous matrix to produce a microporous material which exhibits improved physical and dimensional stability properties over the stretched microporous matrix.

The present invention provides a method of operating a fuel cell, which method enables a polymer electrolyte membrane to be humidified sufficiently under high-temperature conditions, and can obtain excellent power generation performance. The present invention is a method of operating a fuel cell including a membrane electrode assembly containing an electrolyte membrane, catalyst layers, and gas diffusion layers, the method including a step of setting the operating temperature of the fuel cell at 100° C. or more, wherein, in the step, the relative humidity of supply gas to be supplied to the fuel cell is 70% or more, and the back pressure of the supply gas is 330 kPa or more.