JPH069142B2 - Assembling method of fuel cell - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for assembling a fuel cell in which constituent members are stacked and assembled.

[Background of the Invention]

FIG. 1 shows a principle diagram of a unit cell of a fuel cell based on an electrochemical reaction. In the figure, 1 is an anode and 2 is a cathode, and an electrolyte layer 3 is sandwiched between the anode 1 and the cathode 2. A fuel chamber 5 for sending the fuel 4 is provided adjacent to the anode 1, and an oxidant chamber 7 for sending the oxidant 6 is provided adjacent to the cathode 2. As the fuel 4, a liquid such as methanol or hydrazine or a gas such as hydrogen is used. Further, as the oxidizer 6, a gas such as oxygen or air containing oxygen is used. As the electrolyte, there are an acidic type such as sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid and an alkaline type such as potassium hydroxide.

As the generated gas 8, in the anode 1, carbon dioxide gas is generated when the fuel 4 is methanol, and nitrogen gas is generated when it is hydrazine. On the other hand, at the cathode 2, water 9 is produced when the electrolyte is of the acidic type. When the electrolyte is of alkaline type, water is produced at the cathode 2.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are exploded perspective views of the conventional cells shown in FIG. 1 which are different from each other and are not assembled yet. In FIG. 2, the anode 1 and the cathode 2 are formed of a wire netting base, a current collecting portion of a metal plate is provided around the wire netting base, and the terminals 10 and 11 are drawn from the current collecting portion. The fuel chamber 5 and the oxidant chamber 7 are made of a plastic material. Further, in FIG. 3, the anode 1 and the cathode 2 are made of a porous carbon material, and the fuel chamber 5 and the oxidant chamber 7 are formed of an impermeable carbon plate.
It is constituted by a groove provided in 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a method of assembling the unit cell shown in FIG. 3 as a fuel cell. Conventionally, as shown in the same figure, each unit cell constituent member is formed as a separate body, and each constituent member is individually stacked and tightened by the contact plates 13 to be laminated.

However, in the conventional assembling method as described above, when a liquid electrolyte is used, it is necessary to wet the electrolyte in advance so as not to dry the electrolyte, which makes it difficult to seal. There was a flaw.
Further, when the paste matrix is used as the electrolyte, there is a drawback that the interface between the electrodes (anode 1 and cathode 2) and the electrolyte layer 3 has poor adhesion. Further, a catalyst layer is attached to the electrode, but in order to retain the activity of such an electrode, it is necessary to store the electrode in an inert gas atmosphere until being stacked as a fuel cell. Therefore, a large space is required for this storage, and a gas adjusting device including supply and exhaust of an inert gas is required, which causes a drawback that the assembling equipment and the assembling space become large.

[Object of the Invention]

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and facilitates assembling, improves the sealing property of the electrolyte and the adhesion between the electrode plate and the electrolyte layer, and thus improves the performance of the fuel cell. An object of the present invention is to provide a method of assembling a fuel cell capable of achieving the above.

[Outline of Invention]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a structure in which an electrolyte layer and an anode and a cathode sandwiching the electrolyte layer are preliminarily laminated and integrated among the constituent members of the fuel cell, and then another constituent member is provided outside the anode and the cathode. In the method for assembling a fuel cell, the semi-cured resin is applied to the periphery of the impregnated substrate of the liquid electrolyte, and the anode and the canode formed of the perforated material are laminated from both sides of the impregnated substrate, It is characterized in that the semi-cured resin is heat-cured to be thermoset and laminated and integrated, and then the impregnated substrate is impregnated with a liquid electrolyte from the outside of the anode or the cathode.

Still another aspect of the present invention is a fuel in which an electrolyte layer and an anode and a cathode sandwiching the electrolyte layer among the components of the fuel cell are preliminarily laminated and integrated, and then other components are laminated outside the anode and the cathode. In the method of assembling the battery, after applying the adhesive to the periphery of the electrolyte composed of the ion exchange membrane,
It is characterized in that an anode and a cathode formed of a perforated material are adhered from both sides to be laminated and integrated.

Example of Invention

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments of the drawings. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an assembly method according to the present invention. Similar to the conventional method, each constituent member is individually prepared, but first, the anode 1, the electrolyte layer 3, and the cathode 2 are laminated and integrated, and then the other constituent member, the separator 1.
2 and 12 are stacked on the outside of the anode 1 and the cathode 2, thereby stacking the fuel chamber 5 and the oxidant chamber 7 which are constituted by the grooves provided in the separators 12 and 12. In this way, if the anode 1, the electrolyte layer 3 and the cathode 2 are first laminated and integrated, it becomes simple because only three constituent members are integrated, and the problems of sealing property and adhesiveness can be solved. Becomes If the electrode and the electrolyte layer 3 are integrally sealed, the catalyst layer of the electrode is not exposed to the outside, so that it may come in contact with some air that permeates through the electrode plate made of a perforated material. However, it is significantly different from the fact that the catalyst layer is directly exposed to air, and even if it is stored, it does not require a strict check on the gas to be prepared, it can be a simple one, and it requires less space. Moreover, it is possible to prevent accidents such as erroneous damage to the catalyst layer.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the laminated integration method. This embodiment is a laminated integration method when the electrolyte is a liquid (acidic or alkaline). A semi-cured resin 15 is applied to the peripheral edge of a liquid electrolyte impregnated substrate 14 and impregnated in this state. The anode 1 and the cathode 2 formed of a perforated material are laminated from both sides of the base body 14 and heated to impregnate a part of the semi-cured resin 15 into the peripheral portions of the anode 1 and the cathode 2 and heat cure the same. This is a method in which the substrates are laminated and integrated, and then the impregnated substrate 14 is impregnated with a liquid electrolyte from the outside of the anode 1 or the cathode 2. In this case, the electrolyte layer 3 is composed of the impregnated substrate 14 and the liquid electrolyte impregnated therein. Here, the impregnated substrate 14 is formed of a woven or non-woven fabric of plastic fibers or pulp fibers, and also functions as a diaphragm between the anode 1 and the cathode 2. The semi-cured resin 15 is an epoxy resin or the like, and its heat curing temperature is 50 to 60.
There is no problem whether the liquid electrolyte has a high temperature of about 200 ° C. or about 200 ° C., because the liquid electrolyte is impregnated later as described above. Anode 1 and cathode 2 made of porous material are
It is formed of a porous carbon plate, a sintered metal, a metal net, or the like, and is adhered with sufficient adhesive strength by the thermosetting. In the case of the present embodiment, the impregnated substrate 14 such as a non-woven fabric can be impregnated with the semi-cured resin 15 in advance, so that the assembly process can be mechanized and the seal can be strengthened.

FIG. 7 is also a perspective view showing another embodiment of the laminated and integrated method,
The case where the electrolyte is an ion exchange membrane is shown. In this example,
This is a method in which the adhesive 20 is applied to the periphery of the electrolyte made of the ion exchange membrane 19 and then the anode 1 and the cathode 2 are adhered from both sides to be laminated and integrated. Here, the ion exchange membrane 1
9 is contacted with the anode 1 and the cathode 2 by laminating and integrating them as described above, and then disposing the separator 12 on each of the anode 1 and the cathode 2 as described in the conventional example of FIGS. 3 and 4. Further, it is secured by further tightening with the contact plate 13. In order to integrate the ion exchange membrane 19 with the anode 1 and the cathode 2 on the surface of the separator 12, a portion contacting with a portion other than the peripheral edge with an adhesive or the like intervening from a portion contacting with the peripheral edge with an adhesive or the like intervening. If it is made thick and tightened with the contact plate 13, sufficient contact can be obtained.

Further, the adhesive strength of the adhesive is tightened by the contact plate 13 as described above, so that any adhesive can be used as long as the adhesive strength is obtained so as not to be accidentally separated during assembly. Here, the adhesive is made of a material that is water-repellent or has no affinity for the liquid fuel used. If silicone RTV (room temperature curing type) is used as the adhesive 20 and the anode 1 and the cathode 2 are pressure-bonded from both sides and further covered with an adhesive tape as shown in FIG. Is improved.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, a semi-cured resin is applied to the periphery of the impregnated substrate of the liquid electrolyte, and an anode and a cathode formed of a perforated material are laminated from both sides of the impregnated substrate,
After heating and heat-curing the semi-cured resin to laminate and integrate it, the impregnated substrate is impregnated with the liquid electrolyte from the outside of the anode or the cathode. The adhesiveness with the electrolyte layer can be improved, and the performance of the fuel cell can be improved. Furthermore, it is easy to assemble.

According to another invention of the present application, after the adhesive is applied to the periphery of the electrolyte made of the ion exchange membrane, the anode and the cathode formed of the perforated material are adhered from both sides to be laminated and integrated. The same effect as the above invention can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle view of a unit cell of a fuel cell, FIGS. 2 and 3 are exploded perspective views of different conventional unit cells shown in FIG. 1 before assembly, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a method for assembling the unit cell shown in the figure as a fuel cell, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the assembling method according to the present invention, and FIGS. 6 to 8 are different embodiments of the stacking and integrating method. It is a perspective view shown. 1 ... Anode, 2 ... Cathode, 3 ... Electrolyte layer, 14 ... Impregnated substrate, 15 ... Semi-cured resin, 18 ... Adhesive tape, 19 ... Ion exchange membrane, 20 ... Adhesive.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Ryota Doi 3-1, 1-1 Sachimachi, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Hitachi Ltd. Hitachi Research Laboratory (72) Inventor Motoo Yamaguchi 3-chome, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture No. 1 in Hitachi Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd. (56) References JP-A-58-87774 (JP, A) JP-A-57-36785 (JP, A)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A fuel cell in which an electrolyte layer and an anode and a cathode sandwiching the electrolyte layer are preliminarily laminated and integrated among the constituent members of the fuel cell, and then other constituent members are laminated outside the anode and the cathode. In the assembling method, a semi-cured resin is applied to the periphery of the impregnated substrate of the liquid electrolyte, and an anode and a cathode made of a perforated material are laminated from both sides of the impregnated substrate and heated to cause the semi-cured resin. A method for assembling a fuel cell, wherein the resin in the state is heat-cured to be laminated and integrated, and then the impregnated substrate is impregnated with a liquid electrolyte from the outside of the anode or the cathode. 2. A fuel cell in which an electrolyte layer and an anode and a cathode sandwiching the electrolyte layer among the components of the fuel cell are preliminarily laminated and integrated, and then other components are laminated outside the anode and the cathode. A method for assembling a fuel cell, which comprises applying an adhesive to the periphery of an electrolyte made of an ion-exchange membrane, and then adhering an anode and a cathode formed of a perforated material from both sides to laminate and integrate them.