Abstract: A separator for use in a fuel cell of the present disclosure includes: a plate; a first gas manifold hole (51) for supplying a reactant gas, formed to penetrate said plate in a thickness direction thereof; a second gas manifold hole (52) for discharging the reactant gas, formed to penetrate said plate in a thickness direction thereof; one or more groove-like first main gas channels (18) formed on a surface of said plate to have one end connected to said first gas manifold hole (51) and the other end connected to said second gas manifold hole; a groove-like first sub-gas channel (28) formed on the surface of said plate to have one end connected to at least one of said first gas manifold hole (51) and said second gas manifold hole (52); and a groove-like second sub-gas channel (38) formed on the surface of said plate to have one end branching from said first sub-gas channel (28) and the other end being closed.

Abstract: A fuel cell system (100a) includes a fuel cell (11), a fuel gas supplier (16) configured to supply a fuel gas; an oxidizing gas supplier (17) configured to supply an oxidizing gas, and a controller (20), and further includes a moisture supply mechanism (27, 28, 29) configured to supply moisture to at least one of an anode and a cathode of the fuel cell, wherein the controller is configured to control the moisture supply mechanism based on at least one of either a dew point of the fuel gas or information related to the dew point and either a dew point of the oxidizing gas or information related to the dew point as to increase at least either the dew point of the fuel gas or the dew point of the oxidizing gas, in order to supply moisture to at least one of the anode or the cathode of the fuel cell before cutting off electric connection between the fuel cell and a load, and is configured to thereafter cut off the electric connection between the fuel cell and the load.

Abstract: A fuel cell of the present invention includes a membrane-electrode assembly (10), an anode separator (20), and a cathode separator (30). The membrane-electrode assembly (10) includes: a polymer electrolyte membrane (1); a first anode catalyst layer (2A) and an anode gas diffusion layer (4) sequentially stacked on one of main surfaces of the polymer electrolyte membrane (1); a second anode catalyst layer (2B) disposed between the polymer electrolyte membrane (1) and the first anode catalyst layer (2A); and a cathode catalyst layer (3) and a cathode gas diffusion layer (5) sequentially stacked on the other main surface of the polymer electrolyte membrane (1). The second anode catalyst layer (2B) contains a catalyst which adsorbs a sulfur compound.

Abstract: A fuel cell of the present disclosure includes an electrolyte-layer-electrode assembly, a first separator, a second separator, and one or more gas permeation suppressing sections, the inner surface of the first separator and the inner surface of the second separator have a first region and a second region, the gas permeation suppressing section is provided at least one of a first reactant gas channel and a second reactant gas channel so as to overlap with the first region when viewed in a thickness direction of the first separator, and the gas permeation suppressing section is provided at least one of the first reactant gas channel and the second reactant gas channel so as to overlap with the second region when viewed in the thickness direction of the first separator.

Abstract: A polymer electrolyte fuel cell of the present invention comprises an electrolyte layer-electrode assembly (8), an anode separator (11) which is provided with a fuel gas channel (13), and a cathode separator (10) which is provided with an oxidizing gas channel (12), wherein low-level humidified reactant gases are supplied to a fuel gas channel (13) and to an oxidizing gas channel (12), respectively; and wherein a level of hydrophilicity of a section (hereinafter referred to as a cathode gas diffusion layer upstream section) of a cathode gas diffusion layer (3) which is opposite to an upstream region of the oxidizing gas channel (12) including a mostupstream region thereof is set lower than a level of hydrophilicity of a section (hereinafter referred to as anode gas diffusion layer upstream opposite section) of the anode gas diffusion layer (6) which is opposite to the cathode gas diffusion layer upstream section (3a) by making the level of hydrophilicity of an entire region of the anode gas diffusion layer up

Abstract: Provided is a fuel cell system which is capable of well preventing deterioration of performance of a fuel cell stack or well restoring deteriorated performance of the fuel cell stack and of suppressing deterioration of durability of the fuel cell stack, and a method of operating the fuel cell system.

Abstract: A membrane-membrane reinforcing member assembly includes: a polymer electrolyte membrane (1); one or more membrane-like first membrane reinforcing members (10) disposed on a main surface (F10) of the polymer electrolyte membrane (1) so as to extend along a peripheral edge of the polymer electrolyte membrane (1) as a whole; and one or more membrane-like second membrane reinforcing members (11) disposed on the first membrane reinforcing members (10) so as to extend along the peripheral edge of the polymer electrolyte membrane (1) as a whole and disposed such that an inner edge of the second membrane reinforcing member (11) and an inner edge of the first membrane reinforcing member (10) do not coincide with each other.

Abstract: The invention provides a fuel cell separator wherein a first reaction gas channel 131 has a first portion 41 and a second portion 51 located upstream of the first portion 41, the first portion 41 lying closest to the upstream end of the first reaction gas channel 131 among portions located between the second portion 51 and the downstream end of the first reaction gas channel 131, the second portion 51 lying closest to the downstream end among portions located between the upstream end and the first portion 41 of the first reaction gas channel 131. Second reaction gas channels 132, 133 do not exist between the first portion 41 and the upstream end but exist between the second portion 51 and the downstream end. The first reaction gas channel 131 is communicated with at least one (hereinafter referred to as the “specific channel”) of the second reaction gas channels 132, 133 in a portion (hereinafter referred to as the “specific portion”) between the first portion 41 and the downstream end.

Abstract: In order to provide a fuel cell system (which ensures high proton conductivity and high energy conversion efficiency and, in addition, copes with an operating mode of the startup/shutdown type and which has excellent durability capable of effectively preventing a polymer electrolyte membrane from deterioration) and an operating method of such a fuel cell system, a fuel cell system (100) is provided with a fuel cell (11), a fuel gas supplier (16) and an oxidizing gas supplier (17), a temperature supplier (19) which controls the temperature of the fuel cell, and a humidifier unit (18) which humidifies oxidizing gas, wherein there is further provided a controller (20) which controls the dew point of fuel gas and the dew point of oxidizing gas as follow: during the generation of electric power, the fuel gas dew point is made higher than or equal to the temperature of the fuel cell while the oxidizing gas dew point is made less than the temperature of the fuel cell and, before interrupting the electric connection

Abstract: A polymer electrolyte fuel cell includes: a membrane-electrode assembly (10) having a polymer electrolyte membrane (1) and a pair of electrodes (4, 8) sandwiching a portion of the polymer electrolyte membrane (1) which portion is located inwardly of a peripheral portion of the polymer electrolyte membrane (1); an electrically-conductive first separator (30) disposed to contact the membrane-electrode assembly (10) and formed such that a groove-like first reactant gas channel (37) is formed on one main surface thereof so as to bend; and an electrically-conductive second separator (20) disposed to contact the membrane-electrode assembly (10) and formed such that a groove-like second reactant gas channel (27) is formed on one main surface thereof so as to bend, wherein the first reactant gas channel (27) is formed such that a width of a portion of the first reactant gas channel (27) which portion is formed at least a portion (hereinafter referred to as an uppermost stream portion 8C of the first separator 30) loc

Abstract: A membrane-membrane reinforcing member assembly includes: a polymer electrolyte membrane (1) having a substantially quadrilateral shape; a membrane-like first membrane reinforcing member (10a) disposed on a first main surface (F10) of the polymer electrolyte membrane (1) to bend at a substantially right angle at a corner of the polymer electrolyte membrane (1) and extend along sides forming the corner; and a membrane-like second membrane reinforcing member (10b) disposed on a second main surface (F20) of the polymer electrolyte membrane (1) to bend at a substantially right angle at a corner of the polymer electrolyte membrane (1) and extend along sides forming the corner, and the first membrane reinforcing member (10a) and the second membrane reinforcing member (10b) are disposed to extend along four sides of the polymer electrolyte membrane (1) as a whole.

Abstract: A membrane-membrane reinforcing member assembly includes: a polymer electrolyte membrane (1) having a substantially square shape; a pair of membrane-like first membrane reinforcing members (10a) disposed on one main surface of the polymer electrolyte membrane (1) so as to extend along a pair of opposed sides, respectively, of four sides of said one main surface; and a pair of membrane-like second membrane reinforcing members (10b) disposed on another main surface of the polymer electrolyte membrane (1) so as to extend along a pair of opposed sides, respectively, of four sides of said another main surface, wherein: portions of the polymer electrolyte membrane (1) at which portions the first membrane reinforcing members (10a, 10a) and the second membrane reinforcing members (10b, 10b) are disposed are concave; and the first membrane reinforcing members (10a, 10a) and the second membrane reinforcing members (10b, 10b) are disposed such that main surfaces thereof are exposed, and the first membrane reinforcing me

Abstract: A membrane membrane-reinforcement-member assembly, membrane catalyst-layer assembly, membrane electrode assembly, and polymer electrolyte fuel cell are provided, which are so configured as to ensure sufficient durability and a cost reduction in unit cells and be suited for mass production. To this end, a membrane membrane-reinforcement-member assembly (20) of a membrane catalyst-layer assembly (30) provided in an MEA (5) of a cell (100) has a polymer electrolyte membrane (1), a pair of first membrane reinforcement members (10a) and a pair of second membrane reinforcement members (10b) which members (10a), (10b) are embedded in the polymer electrolyte membrane (1) such that their main surfaces are not exposed therefrom. The first and second membrane reinforcement members (10a), (10b) are embedded in a parallelogrammatic fashion so as to overlap each other in the four corners of the polymer electrolyte membrane (1) when viewed in a thickness direction of the polymer electrolyte membrane.

Abstract: An electrode core material has a substrate and at least one porous material layer diffusion-bonded to the substrate. The substrate is made of a metal foil processed into a three-dimensional structure which is substantially deformed from a major plane of the metal foil, preferably having bulge portions which protrude from at least one side of the metal foil, the bulge portions preferably having a curved, strip-shaped form between laterally spaced slits in the metal foil. The porous material layer is made of metal fine particles diffusion-bonded to each other, and the porous material layer has a three-dimensional structure which is substantially uniform in thickness and porosity. Methods are provided for producing the electrode core material by diffusion bonding the porous material layer to the substrate either before or after deforming the metal foil. The electrode core material may be used for the positive and/or negative electrode of an alkaline storage battery.

Abstract: A method of preserving a fuel cell membrane electrode assembly in which catalyst electrodes are stacked on each surface of a polymer electrolyte is to preserve the fuel cell membrane electrode assembly in an airtight package that prevents oxygen, moisture and a function inhibitor from permeating through the package.

Abstract: A polymer electrolyte fuel cell includes a cell stack (51) formed by stacking cells (11), each of which includes: an MEA (5) having a polymer electrolyte membrane (1), and an anode (4a) and a cathode (4b) sandwiching the polymer electrolyte membrane (1); and an anode separator (6a) and a cathode separator (6b) disposed to sandwich the MEA (5), an anode gas internal supplying channel is formed to supply a fuel gas and air to the anode (4a), and a CO removing catalyst layer (61) containing a CO removing catalyst is formed in the anode gas internal supplying channel.

Abstract: The present invention includes a fuel cell (11), a fuel gas supplying device (16), an oxidizing gas supplying device (17) and a control apparatus (20) and further includes at least one of a temperature control device (19) which controls the temperature of the fuel cell (11) and a humidifying device (24) which humidifies at least one of the fuel gas and the oxidizing gas to be supplied to the fuel cell (11), wherein: the control apparatus (20) controls at least one of the temperature control device (19), the humidifying device (24), the fuel cell (11) and the fuel gas supplying device (16) to cause the temperature of the fuel cell (11) to be equal to at least one of the dew point of the fuel gas and the dew point of the oxidizing gas, before cutting off an electrical connection between the fuel cell (11) and a load; and then the control apparatus (20) cuts off the electrical connection between the fuel cell (11) and the load.

Abstract: A catalyst-coated membrane includes: a first catalyst layer (2a) and a second catalyst layer (2b) which are opposed to each other; a polymer electrolyte membrane 1 which is disposed between the first catalyst layer (2a) and the second catalyst layer (2b) and has a first main surface (F10) and a second main surface (F20) which are opposed to each other; and a membrane catalyst concentration reduced region 80 which is formed so as to contact an outer periphery of the first catalyst layer (2a) and the first main surface (F10) of the polymer electrolyte membrane 1 and has hydrogen ion conductivity and fire resistance, wherein: an outer periphery of the main surfaces of the second catalyst layer (2b) is located between an edge of the membrane catalyst concentration reduced region (80) which edge contacts the first catalyst layer (2a) and an edge opposed to the edge contacting the first catalyst layer (2a); and the membrane catalyst concentration reduced region (80) includes a first portion (8) which contacts the f

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a catalyst-coated membrane suitable for achieving a polymer electrolyte fuel cell that sufficiently prevents a decrease in the initial characteristics and also exhibits sufficient cell performance for a long period of time and has excellent durability. In at least the cathode catalyst layer, the ratio (WP/WCat-C) of the weight of the polymer electrolyte (WP) to the weight of the catalyst-carrying carbon (WCat-C) is decreased from an innermost layer positioned closest to the polymer electrolyte membrane toward an outermost layer positioned farthest from the polymer electrolyte membrane. The ratio (WP/WCat-C) in the innermost layer is 0.8 to 3.0, and the ratio (WP/WCat-C) in the outermost layer is 0.2 to 0.6.

Abstract: Provided is a fuel cell system including a polymer electrolyte fuel cell with improved durability, which is capable of suppressing a phenomenon in which a polymer electrolyte membrane is decomposed and degraded. In the fuel cell system including the polymer electrolyte fuel cell including: a membrane electrode assembly including a polymer electrolyte membrane with hydrogen ion conductivity, and a fuel electrode and an oxidant electrode sandwiching the polymer electrolyte membrane; a first separator plate for supplying and discharging a fuel gas to and from the fuel electrode; and a second separator plate for supplying and discharging an oxidant gas to and from the fuel electrode, a metal ion supplying means for supplying metal ions, which are stable in an aqueous solution, to the inside of the membrane electrode assembly in an amount equivalent to 1.0 to 40.0% of the ion exchange group capacity of the polymer electrolyte membrane is disposed.