A solid oxide fuel cell includes: a support layer mainly composed of a metal; an anode supported by the support; and a mixed layer interposed between the support and the anode, wherein the anode includes an electrode bone structure composed of a ceramic material containing a first oxide having electron conductivity and a second oxide having oxygen ion conductivity, and the mixed layer has a structure in which a metallic material and a ceramic material are mixed.

A method for making an improved fuel cell using a porosity gradient design for gas diffusion layers in a hydrogen fuel cell, a gas diffusion layer made by the method and a fuel cell containing the gas diffusion layer.

A fuel cell includes a flow field plate, a catalyst layer, and a gas diffusion layer (GDL). The flow field plate has at least one channel and at least one land. Each of the at least one channel being positioned between two adjacent lands. The GDL is positioned between the flow field plate and the catalyst layer. The catalyst layer has a first region aligned with the at least one channel and a second region aligned with the at least one land. The first region has a first composition, a first carbon material, and a first carbon ratio of an amount of the first composition to the first carbon material. The second region has a second composition, a second carbon material, and a second carbon ratio of an amount of the second composition to the second carbon material. The first carbon ratio is different than the second carbon ratio.

A cathode configured to use oxygen as a cathode active material, the cathode including: a porous film, wherein the porous film includes a metal oxide, and wherein a surface of the porous film has root mean square (RMS) roughness (Rq) of about 0.01 micrometer to about 1 micrometer, and a porosity of the porous film is about 50 volume percent to about 99 volume percent, based on a total volume of the porous film.

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a porous device, comprising a porous material, and a hierarchical network of flow channels defined in the porous material, wherein at least one flow channel in the hierarchical network of flow channels has a shape that at least partially approximates a cube-root profile or a quartic-root profile. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

A method for making an improved fuel cell using a porosity gradient design for gas diffusion layers in a hydrogen fuel cell, a gas diffusion layer made by the method and a fuel cell containing the gas diffusion layer.

The invention relates to a composite multilayer carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) reduction catalyst, comprising a catalyst layer comprising at least one metal compound, the catalyst layer having opposed first and second sides; a hydrophobic gas-diffusion layer provided on the first side of the catalyst layer; a current collection structure provided on the second side of the catalyst layer. The metal is preferably copper. The invention also relates to a method for electrochemical production of a hydrocarbon product, such as ethylene, using said catalyst.

Disclosed are electrochemical reactors with electrodes that have variable porosity across the electrode. The electrodes are designed and micro-architected to have variable porosity and 3D flow. In one aspect, an electrochemical cell apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes an electrochemical vessel and an electrochemical fluid contained in the electrochemical vessel. The apparatus further includes a porous electrode submerged in the electrochemical fluid in the electrochemical vessel, the porous electrode having different porosities in different areas of the porous electrode. The different porosities inhibit electrochemical fluid flow and increase electrical conductivity in first areas of the porous electrode with decreased porosity compared to second areas, and enable increased electrochemical fluid flow and decrease electrical conductivity in the second areas of the porous electrode with increased porosity compared to the first areas.

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.

A gas diffusion layer for an electrolyser or for a fuel cell comprises a first nonwoven layer of metal fibers provided for contacting a proton exchange membrane, a second nonwoven layer of metal fibers, and a third porous metal layer. The first nonwoven layer of metal fibers comprises metal fibers of a first equivalent diameter. The second nonwoven layer of metal fibers comprises metal fibers of a second equivalent diameter. The second equivalent diameter is larger than the first equivalent diameter. The third porous metal layer comprises open pores. The open pores of the third porous metal layer are larger than the open pores of the second nonwoven layer of metal fibers. The second nonwoven layer is provided in between and contacting the first nonwoven layer and the third porous metal layer. The second nonwoven layer is metallurgically bonded to the first nonwoven layer and to the third porous metal layer. The thickness of the third porous metal layer is at least two times—and preferably at least three times—the thickness of the first nonwoven layer.