A fuel cell stack is described. The fuel cell stack comprises an interconnect assembly comprising a cathode-side interface coupled to an interconnect via a first joint, and an anode-side interface coupled to the interconnect via a second joint, the interconnect assembly having a first coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) at an interface side of the interconnect assembly. The fuel cell stack further comprises a fuel cell element coupled to the interconnect assembly at the interface side via a hermetic seal, the fuel cell element having a second CTE at the interface side, the first CTE and the second CTE satisfying a predetermined CTE matching condition.

A fuel cell module includes an electrode membrane assembly and a pair of separators. The electrode membrane assembly includes an electrode portion and a pair of gas diffusion layers. The electrode portion includes a polymer electrolyte membrane, an anode electrode formed on a first surface of the polymer electrolyte membrane, and a cathode electrode formed on a second surface of the polymer electrolyte membrane. One of the pair of gas diffusion layers is in contact with an anode surface of the electrode portion at which the anode electrode is disposed, and the other is in contact with a cathode surface of the electrode portion at which the cathode electrode is disposed. The separators sandwich the electrode membrane assembly from respective the anode surface and the cathode surface. The electrode membrane assembly and each separator are adhered to each other by a plurality of resin portions made of a resin which at least partially contains fibers. At least a part of each gas diffusion layer is impregnated with the resin.

A fuel cell module includes an electrode membrane assembly and a pair of separators. The electrode membrane assembly includes an electrode portion and a pair of gas diffusion layers. The electrode portion includes a polymer electrolyte membrane, an anode electrode formed on a first surface of the polymer electrolyte membrane, and a cathode electrode formed on a second surface of the polymer electrolyte membrane. One of the pair of gas diffusion layers is in contact with an anode surface of the electrode portion at which the anode electrode is disposed, and the other is in contact with a cathode surface of the electrode portion at which the cathode electrode is disposed. The separators sandwich the electrode membrane assembly from respective the anode surface and the cathode surface. The electrode membrane assembly and each separator are adhered to each other by a plurality of resin portions made of a resin which at least partially contains fibers. At least a part of each gas diffusion layer is impregnated with the resin.

A composition with latent adhesion, fuel cell stack with a bipolar plate assembly with latent adhesion and a method of assembling a fuel cell stack with a seal that has latent adhesion such that reactant or coolant leakage through the seal is reduced. Bipolar plates within the stack include reactant channels and coolant channels that are fluidly coupled to inlet and outlet flowpaths, all of which are formed within a coolant-engaging or reactant-engaging surface of the plate. One or more thin or low aspect-ratio seals are formed on a metal bead that is integrally-formed on a surface of the plate and is used to help reduce leakage by maintaining fluid isolation of the reactants and coolant as they flow through their respective channels and flowpaths that are defined between adjacently-placed plates. By proper formulation of the precursor materials that make up the seal, the activation of the adhesive bond formed between the seal and an adjacent surface within the fuel cell can be delayed to allow ample time to aligned and compressively join the cell assemblies in a stack housing. This in turn improves the ability of the seal and its adjacent surface to avoid seal damage and concomitant reactant or coolant leakage.

A composition with latent adhesion, fuel cell stack with a bipolar plate assembly with latent adhesion and a method of assembling a fuel cell stack with a seal that has latent adhesion such that reactant or coolant leakage through the seal is reduced. Bipolar plates within the stack include reactant channels and coolant channels that are fluidly coupled to inlet and outlet flowpaths, all of which are formed within a coolant-engaging or reactant-engaging surface of the plate. One or more thin or low aspect-ratio seals are formed on a metal bead that is integrally-formed on a surface of the plate and is used to help reduce leakage by maintaining fluid isolation of the reactants and coolant as they flow through their respective channels and flowpaths that are defined between adjacently-placed plates. By proper formulation of the precursor materials that make up the seal, the activation of the adhesive bond formed between the seal and an adjacent surface within the fuel cell can be delayed to allow ample time to aligned and compressively join the cell assemblies in a stack housing. This in turn improves the ability of the seal and its adjacent surface to avoid seal damage and concomitant reactant or coolant leakage.

A fuel cell stack with a bipolar plate assembly and a method of assembling a fuel cell stack such that reactant or coolant leakage is reduced. Bipolar plates within the system include reactant channels and coolant channels that are fluidly coupled to inlet and outlet flowpaths, all of which are formed within a coolant-engaging or reactant-engaging surface of the plate. One or more thin or low aspect-ratio microseals are also formed on a metal bead that is integrally-formed on a surface of the plate and is used to help reduce leakage by maintaining fluid isolation of the reactants and coolant as they flow through their respective channels and flowpaths that are defined between adjacently-placed plates. By delaying the activation of the adhesive bond formed between the microseal and an adjacent surface within the fuel cell until after the aligned cell assemblies have been compressively supported in a stack housing, the ability of the microseal and its adjacent surface to avoid reactant or coolant leakage is enhanced.

A fuel cell stack with a bipolar plate assembly and a method of assembling a fuel cell stack such that reactant or coolant leakage is reduced. Bipolar plates within the system include reactant channels and coolant channels that are fluidly coupled to inlet and outlet flowpaths, all of which are formed within a coolant-engaging or reactant-engaging surface of the plate. One or more thin or low aspect-ratio microseals are also formed on a metal bead that is integrally-formed on a surface of the plate and is used to help reduce leakage by maintaining fluid isolation of the reactants and coolant as they flow through their respective channels and flowpaths that are defined between adjacently-placed plates. By delaying the activation of the adhesive bond formed between the microseal and an adjacent surface within the fuel cell until after the aligned cell assemblies have been compressively supported in a stack housing, the ability of the microseal and its adjacent surface to avoid reactant or coolant leakage is enhanced.

A sealing assembly for a fuel cell system and a method of assembling a fuel cell system. The system is made up of numerous fluid-conveying plate assemblies stacked such that seals are placed between adjacent plates. Microseals are disposed on one or both of metal beads and subgaskets such that when fuel cells comprising such metal beads, microseals and gaskets are aligned and compressed into a housing of a fuel cell stack, the leakage impacts of any misalignment in the cells is reduced. In particular, variations in microseal design including geometric and material properties such as microseal aspect ratio, Poisson's Ratio and as-deposited shape may be tailored to provide optimum sealing between facing metal beads and subgaskets.

A sealing assembly for a fuel cell system and a method of assembling a fuel cell system. The system is made up of numerous fluid-conveying plate assemblies stacked such that seals are placed between adjacent plates. Microseals are disposed on one or both of metal beads and subgaskets such that when fuel cells comprising such metal beads, microseals and gaskets are aligned and compressed into a housing of a fuel cell stack, the leakage impacts of any misalignment in the cells is reduced. In particular, variations in microseal design including geometric and material properties such as microseal aspect ratio, Poisson's Ratio and as-deposited shape may be tailored to provide optimum sealing between facing metal beads and subgaskets.

A method of preparation and application for a glass ceramic sealing thin strip with high sealing performance, differing from using conventional glass ceramic packaging paste applied to the junction of the cell stack assembly and connecting plates. The glass ceramic sealing thin strip of present invention utilizes tape casting to produce a single layer or multi-layer stacking in accordance with the required thickness of the glass-ceramic sealing thin strip, and cutting the glass ceramic sealing thin strips from molds in accordance with the geometry of cell stacks with equal thickness of the glass ceramic sealing thin strip for SOFC cell stack assembly, aiming to overcome the setbacks of the conventional dispensing method with glass ceramic packaging paste that makes the thickness difficult to control, and to effectively improve sealing performance of the cell stack assembly and the power generation efficiency, and achieve commercial application with mass production.