JP5687436B2 - Output terminal for fuel cell - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an output terminal for a fuel cell.

  At both ends of the fuel cell, two output terminals having output terminals to which wiring for collecting generated electric power and taking it out are connected. The surface of these output terminals is usually subjected to a conductive treatment for enhancing the conductivity, for example, an Au plating treatment.

  In the above conductive treatment, a noble metal such as Au is often used in order to obtain high conductivity. Therefore, considering the manufacturing cost, the range of the conductive treatment is not the entire surface of the output terminal. In many cases, the region is limited to the region corresponding to the power generation unit of the fuel cell and the fastening region of the output terminal and the output wiring. When conducting a conductive treatment with a limited range in this way, after performing a conductive treatment by performing a masking treatment using a masking member, for example, a rubber material, on a region not subjected to the conductive treatment. The masking member is removed.

  Here, the masking member is not completely removed, and contamination (residual portion of the masking member left without being removed) is contaminated in the region where the seal member of the output terminal is bonded (hereinafter also referred to as “sealing member bonding region”). If contamination occurs, the adhesiveness of the seal member to the seal member adhesion region deteriorates, and as a result, there is a high possibility of causing poor adhesion.

  In addition, the output terminal may have various complicated structures such as a structure in which the output terminal is bent with respect to the terminal surface. In such a case, the conventional conductive treatment is not manufactured. Considering the cost, a more complicated masking process is desired. In some cases, there is a problem that the conductive treatment may need to be performed in a plurality of times.

  In addition, as described above, a precious metal such as Au is used for the conductive treatment, so that it is desired to recycle, and there is a problem that the recycling cost for the peeling work of the plated precious metal increases. is there.

JP 2001-357859 A JP 2000-048778 A JP 2008-121087 A JP 2004-079193 A

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an output terminal that can ensure high conductivity at a low cost and that can ensure high adhesion to a seal member.

SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to solve at least a part of the problems described above, and the invention can be implemented as the following forms or application examples.
[Form 1]
A fuel cell output terminal having a current collector for collecting generated power and an output terminal to which wiring for taking out the collected power to the outside is connected,
A manifold hole is formed in the current collector,
The current collector is exposed and viewed including the wiring fastening portion of said output terminals, and characterized in that the entire surface except for the electrical contact for the plasma CVD method, were coated with a conductive carbon by the plasma CVD method Output terminal for fuel cell.
This fuel cell output terminal has a contact resistance equivalent to that of a noble metal (for example, Au) that has been used for conventional conductive processing, and is exposed by conductive carbon that is excellent in corrosion resistance and low in cost. An output terminal for a fuel cell can be provided which includes a current collector and a wiring fastening portion of the output terminal, and is coated on the entire surface except for electrical contacts for the plasma CVD method . Thereby, it is possible to provide a fuel cell output terminal that can secure high conductivity at low cost and can secure high adhesion to the seal member. Moreover, the output terminal for fuel cells which can suppress that the wiring fastening part of an output terminal wears and contact resistance increases can be provided.

[Application Example 1]
A fuel cell output terminal having a current collector for collecting generated power and an output terminal to which wiring for taking out the collected power to the outside is connected,
An output terminal for a fuel cell, wherein the entire exposed surface is coated with conductive carbon during coating by plasma CVD.
This fuel cell output terminal has a contact resistance equivalent to that of a noble metal (for example, Au) that has been used for conventional conductive processing, and is exposed by conductive carbon that is excellent in corrosion resistance and low in cost. It is possible to provide an output terminal for a fuel cell in which the entire surface is coated by plasma CVD. Thereby, it is possible to provide a fuel cell output terminal that can secure high conductivity at low cost and can secure high adhesion to the seal member.

  The present invention can be realized in various forms, for example, not only in a fuel cell output terminal but also in various forms such as a fuel cell using the same and a method for manufacturing a fuel cell output terminal. It is possible to realize.

It is explanatory drawing shown about the output terminal for fuel cells as a 1st Example. It is explanatory drawing which shows the preparation procedures of the output terminal of a present Example. It is explanatory drawing shown about the output terminal for fuel cells as 2nd Example.

A. First embodiment:
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a fuel cell output terminal as a first embodiment. 1 (A-1) and (A-2) show a fuel cell output terminal as a first embodiment, and FIGS. 1 (B-1) to (B-3) show a comparative example using conventional Au plating. 2 shows an output terminal for a fuel cell that has been subjected to a conductive treatment. Hereinafter, the fuel cell output terminal is also simply referred to as an “output terminal”.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 (A-1) and (B-1), the output terminal 10 of the example and the output terminal 10c of the comparative example are respectively current collectors 12 and 12c for collecting power, It is comprised with the output terminals 14 and 14c to which the wiring for taking out the collected electric power outside is connected. A plurality of manifold holes 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 16c, 18c, 20c, 22c, 24c, and 26c are formed at the left and right peripheral ends of the current collectors 12 and 12c, respectively. The seal member bonding regions 40 and 40c corresponding to the seal members 30 and 30c are provided so as to cover the periphery of the manifold holes, respectively.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 (B-1) and (B-2), the output terminal 10c of the comparative example is a first plating corresponding to the power generation part of the fuel cell that has been subjected to the Au plating process as the conductive process. It has the 2nd plating area | region 50c2 which is an area | region where wiring fastening is made | formed by the area | region 50c1 and the output terminal 14c. When this conductive process is performed, the masking process using a masking member such as a rubber material is performed on the areas other than the plating areas 50c1 and 50c2 as described in the conventional example. And a masking member is removed after completion | finish of electroconductive process. When removing the masking member, as shown in FIG. 1 (B-3), there is a high possibility that the contamination 52c such as the residue of the masking member remains. For example, when the contamination 52c exists on the seal member adhesion region 40c, as shown in FIG. 1 (B-3), the seal member 30c and the seal member adhesion region 40c of the current collector 12c Contamination 52c is interposed between the terminal material 12sc and the terminal material 12sc. As a result, the adhesion between the seal member 30c and the seal member adhesion region 40c is deteriorated, and there is a high possibility of causing poor adhesion.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1A-1, the output terminal 10 of the present embodiment has the current collector 12 and the output terminal 14 of the output terminal 10 as the conductive treatment, that is, the entire surface of the output terminal 10. The conductive carbon coating region 50 is formed. The conductive carbon coating treatment is performed as described below.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a procedure for manufacturing the output terminal of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, first, a material for forming an output terminal is prepared (step S12), processed (step S14), and washed (step S16). As the output terminal material, a metal member such as Al, Cu, SUS, or Ti is used as in the comparative example.

  Then, conductive carbon coating is performed on the entire surface of the processed output terminal material by plasma CVD (step S18). However, when conducting the conductive carbon coating by the plasma CVD method, an electrical contact is required on the surface of the output terminal, and therefore, this portion is not exposed and therefore the conductive carbon coating is not performed. That is, although it is the entire surface, the electrical contact portion is excluded. An inexpensive organic compound can be used as the material for the conductive carbon coating. Thereafter, in order to improve adhesiveness, an ultraviolet irradiation process (UV process) is performed (step S20), the seal member 30 is bonded to the seal member bonding region 40 (step S22), and the production of the output terminal 10 is completed. The UV treatment can be omitted.

  As described above, in the case of the present embodiment, since the entire surface of the output terminal 10 can be coated with the conductive carbon by the plasma CVD method using an inexpensive organic compound, the cost is low and the cost is high. Conductivity can be ensured.

  Further, in the output terminal 10 whose entire surface is coated with conductive carbon, since there is no masking member removal step, the seal member 30 and the seal member adhesion region 40 of the current collector 12 are shown in FIG. There is a low possibility of contamination between the terminal material 12s. For this reason, the adhesiveness of the sealing member 30 and the sealing member adhesion | attachment area | region 40 of the output terminal 10 can be improved, and it is possible to suppress adhesion failure.

  Furthermore, in the case of conductive treatment by precious metal plating at the time of recycling, for example, it is necessary to separate Au plating and its underlying plating material with a stripping solution or the like, which causes problems such as high cost and waste liquid treatment. is there. On the other hand, in the case of the present embodiment, since the coating member is carbon, it can be removed as it is during the material dissolution treatment, and the recycling cost can be reduced.

  Also, when the fastening and removal of the wiring to the output terminal are repeated due to maintenance of the fuel cell, etc., the plating process as in the past wears the region where the conductive treatment of the wiring fastening portion of the output terminal is done, and the contact resistance Will increase. However, in the case of the conductive carbon coating as in this embodiment, it is possible to have wear resistance close to DLC (Diamond Like Carbon), and it is possible to suppress an increase in contact resistance.

B. Second embodiment:
FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an output terminal for a fuel cell as a second embodiment. 3A-1 to A-3 show an output terminal as a second embodiment, and FIGS. 3B-1 to B-3 show a comparative example in which conductive treatment is performed by conventional Au plating. Shows the output terminal.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 (A-1) to (A-3) and (B-1) to (B-3), the output terminal 10B of the embodiment and the output terminal 10Bc of the comparative example are the first embodiment. In the same manner as the output terminal 10 and the output terminal 10c of the comparative example, current collectors 12B and 12Bc and output terminals 14B and 14Bc are configured. However, the difference between the first embodiment and its comparative example and the second embodiment and its comparative example is that the wiring fastening portion 14Bt, of the output terminal 14B of the second embodiment and the output terminal 14Bc of its comparative example, 14Btc is bent about 90 degrees with respect to the current collectors 12B and 12Bc, and the rest is the same as the first embodiment and its comparative example.

  As shown in the comparative examples of FIGS. 3B-1 to 3B-3, when the wiring fastening portion 14Bct of the output terminal 14Bc is bent and formed, the shape is complicated. The masking process is likely to be difficult in order to prevent the plating solution from entering a portion where the plating process is not performed. When it is difficult to mask at a time, for example, in the case of this example, the plating process as the conductive process is performed by dividing the process into the first plating area 50Bc1 and the second plating area 50Bc2. Sometimes it is necessary. In the case of this comparative example, first, in order to perform the Au plating process on the first plating region 50Bc1, all other regions are masked and the Au plating process is performed. Next, in order to perform Au plating on the second plating region 50Bc2, all other regions are masked and Au plating is performed. Thereby, Au plating can be performed on the first and second plating regions 50Bc1 and 50Bc2 as in the comparative example. That is, when the structure of the output terminal is complicated as in this comparative example, the conductive treatment process becomes complicated, resulting in an increase in manufacturing cost.

  On the other hand, the output terminal 10B of the present embodiment is similar to the output terminal 10 of the first embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3A-1 to 3A-3. The current collector 12B and the output terminal 14B, that is, the entire surface is a conductive carbon coating region 50B. Therefore, in the case of the present embodiment, it can be realized by using an inexpensive organic compound and coating the entire surface of the output terminal with a conductive carbon by plasma CVD method. Sex can be secured.

  Further, in the output terminal 10B whose entire surface is coated with conductive carbon, since there is no masking member removal step, the seal member and the seal member adhesion region of the current collector 12B are the same as described in the first embodiment. There is a low possibility of contamination between the terminal material. For this reason, the adhesiveness of a sealing member and the sealing member adhesion | attachment area | region 40 of the electrical power collector 12B can be improved, and adhesion failure can be suppressed.

  Furthermore, in the case of conductive treatment by precious metal plating at the time of recycling, for example, it is necessary to separate Au plating and its underlying plating material with a stripping solution or the like, which causes problems such as high cost and waste liquid treatment. On the other hand, in the case of the present embodiment, since it is carbon, it can be removed as it is during the material dissolution treatment, and the recycling criticism can be reduced.

  In addition, due to repeated connection and removal of wiring to and from the output terminal due to maintenance of the fuel cell, etc., in the case of conventional plating processing, the region where the conductive treatment of the wiring fastening portion of the output terminal has been worn out, Contact resistance increases. However, in the case of the carbon coating as in this embodiment, it is possible to have wear resistance close to that of DLC, and it is possible to suppress an increase in contact resistance.

  In addition, elements other than the elements claimed in the independent claims among the constituent elements in the above embodiment are additional elements and can be omitted as appropriate. The present invention is not limited to the above-described examples and embodiments, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the scope of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Output terminal 10B ... Output terminal 10c ... Output terminal 10Bc ... Output terminal 12 ... Output terminal 12 ... Current collector 12B ... Current collector 12c ... Current collector 12s ... Terminal material 12sc ... Terminal material 14Bct ... Wire fastening part 14 ... Output terminal 14B ... Output terminal 14c ... Output terminal 14Bc ... Output terminal 14Bt ... Wiring fastening portion 16 ... Manifold hole 30 ... Seal member 30c ... Seal member 40 ... Seal member adhesion area 40c ... Seal member adhesion area 50Bc2 ... Second plating area 50Bc1 ... first plating area 50 ... conductive carbon coating area 50B ... conductive carbon coating area 50c1 ... first plating area 50c2 ... second plating area 52c ... contamination

Claims (1)

A fuel cell output terminal having a current collector for collecting generated power and an output terminal to which wiring for taking out the collected power to the outside is connected,
A manifold hole is formed in the current collector,
The current collector is exposed and viewed including the wiring fastening portion of said output terminals, and characterized in that the entire surface except for the electrical contact for the plasma CVD method, were coated with a conductive carbon by the plasma CVD method Output terminal for fuel cell.

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