An innovative fuel cell system with membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) includes a polymer electrolyte membrane, a gas diffusion layer (GDL) made of porous metal foam, and a catalyst layer. A fuel cell has a metal foam layer that improves efficiency and lifetime of the conventional gas diffusion layer, which consists of both gas diffusion barrier (GDB) and microporous layer (MPL). This metal foam GDL enables consistent maintenance of the suitable structure and even distribution of pores during the operation. Due to the combination of mechanical and physical properties of metallic foam, the fuel cell is not deformed by external physical strain. Among many other processing methods of open-cell metal foams, ice-templating provides a cheap, easy processing route suitable for mass production. Furthermore, it provides well-aligned and long channel pores, which improve gas and water flow during the operation of the fuel cell.

The present invention relates to a flexible electrode, a biofuel cell using the same, and a method for manufacturing the same. The electrode according to the present invention comprises: a non-electrically conductive substrate (10); a base layer (20) disposed on the outer surface of the substrate (10); a nanoparticle layer (31) including metallic nanoparticles and disposed on the outer surface of the base layer (20); and a monomolecular layer (33) including a monomolecular material having an amine group and disposed on the outer surface of the nanoparticle layer (31).

Disclosed are anode electrode structures for microbial fuel cell (MFC) devices, systems and methods for treating wastewater and generating electrical energy through a bioelectrochemical waste-to-energy conversion process. In some aspects, an anode electrode includes a conductive core and a plurality of sheets of conductive textile material wound around the conductive core. In some aspects, the anode electrode is produced by cutting sheets of a conductive textile material to form a stem and a plurality of branches connected to the stem. The conductive textile material is pretreated to enhance the surface area, hydrophilicity, microbial attachment, and/or electrochemical activity of the conductive textile material. The sheets are stacked together and wound around a conductive core to produce the anode electrode. In implementations, the anode electrode can be used to transfer electrons removed from wastewater surrounding the branched electrode via an oxidation reaction on the electrode surface within the an MFC device.

The present invention provides a micro-porous layer which provides a fuel battery having high productivity, high power generation performance, and high durability. The present invention provides a micro-porous layer including fibrous carbohydrate having a fiber diameter of 5 nm-10 μm and an aspect ratio of 10 or more. The carbohydrate has an oxygen/carbon element ratio of 0.02 or more.

The present invention relates to an electrochemical fuel cell device having stacked cells and a membrane-electrode assembly (20). The membrane-electrode assembly (20) comprises, amongst others, a first gas diffusion layer (21) arranged on one side of a membrane (23) and a second gas diffusion layer (22) arranged on the opposite side of the membrane (23) for distributing fluids across each side of the membrane (23). The first gas diffusion layer (21) is formed to extend across and beyond planar dimensions of the membrane (23) (an active area of the stack) into at least one transition region adjacently arranged to the planar dimensions of the membrane (23) for covering an interfacing surface in the fuel cell stack within the transition region, and the second gas diffusion layer (22) is formed to extend across the planar dimensions of the membrane (23) without extending beyond, or is formed to extend across and beyond the planar dimensions of the membrane (23) into another one of the at least one region adjacently arranged to the planar dimensions of the membrane (23) which is a transition region of the fuel cell stack for accommodating fluid flow to and from the fuel cell for covering an interfacing surface of the fuel cell stack.

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a porous electrode that includes a porous layer, and a pattern of flow channels defined in the porous layer, wherein a first flow channel in the pattern of flow channels has a shape that at least partially approximates a cube-root profile. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

A porous silicon oxycarbide composite material comprises a porous silicon oxycarbide having a three-dimensional skeleton structure, and a carbon-containing material supported by the three-dimensional skeleton structure, wherein the porous silicon oxycarbide composite material has a BET specific surface area of 100 m.sup.2/g or more and an electrical conductivity of 1.0×10.sup.−6 S/cm or more.

The present invention provides an electrochemical device utilizing microorganisms and capable of outputting sufficient power in a short time after boot-up, by means of an electrochemical device comprising a first electrode comprising a surface layer portion having at least one pore with an opening, wherein the pore has a conductive section at least on an inner face thereof, the first electrode has a conduction path that electrically connects the conductive sections of the pores to each other, and each pore carries electron-donating microorganisms of different classifications or different electron-donating microorganisms of the same classification, or electron-donating microorganisms with average particle sizes significantly different from each other; and a method of producing the same.

Provided is a carbon-fiber nonwoven cloth with low resistance to gases or liquids passing through, and low resistance in the thickness direction to heat or electricity, which is particularly appropriate for a gas diffusion electrode of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell; the cloth having an air gap with a diameter of at least 20 μm, at least some of the carbon fibers being continuous from one surface to the other surface, and the apparent density being 0.2-1.0 g/cm.sup.3, or, having an air gap with a diameter of at least 20 μm and at least some of the carbon fibers being mutually interlaced, and further, at least some of the carbon fibers being oriented toward the thickness direction and the apparent density being 0.2-1.0 g/cm.sup.3.

Provided is a metal-air battery including a cathode having a space which may be filled with a metal oxide formed during a discharge of the metal-air battery and thus having improved energy density and lifespan. The cathode for the metal-air battery includes a plurality of cathode materials, a plurality of electrolyte films disposed on surfaces of the plurality of cathode materials, and a plurality of spaces which are not occupied by the plurality of cathode materials and the plurality of electrolyte films. A volume of the plurality of spaces may be greater than or equal to a maximum space of a metal oxide formed during a discharge of the metal-air battery.