JP2010153043A - Laminated fuel cell - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a laminated fuel cell in which a shape and a structure of a separator itself are multifunctionalized to realize reduction of size and weight of the fuel cell instead of improvement of a thickness or a material of a separator structuring a unit cell. <P>SOLUTION: A porous layer is provided on a surface of a metal separator, and then, a catalyst electrode layer is directly formed on an upper part of the porous layer, whereby, a diffusion layer inserted between the catalyst electrode layer and the separator is eliminated to simplify a cell structure, as well as to thin a cell, to reduce a volume of a cell stack, so as to provide a laminated fuel cell with high output density and of light-weight. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a stacked fuel cell, and more particularly to a stacked fuel cell having a cell stack in which a plurality of unit cells of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell are stacked.

  In recent years, global warming and environmental pollution problems due to mass consumption of fossil fuels have become serious problems. As a means of coping with this problem, instead of internal combustion engines that burn fossil fuels, solid polymer fuel cells and other fuel cells that use hydrogen, methanol, etc. as fuels, and oxygen, air containing them, etc., attract attention. Collecting.

  The fuel cell is attracting attention as a clean power generation system because it has less burden on the environment of the waste generated by power generation. In particular, due to the recent increase in interest in environmental protection, the development of applications for fuel cell distributed power sources and electric vehicle power sources is expected.

  In addition, as a high energy density power source, the possibility of using a fuel cell as a power source for a mobile device is being studied.

  Examples of the fuel cell include a solid polymer type, a phosphoric acid type, a molten carbonate type, and a solid oxide type. Among them, the polymer electrolyte fuel cell can generate power at a relatively low temperature from room temperature to about 100 ° C., and has a high output density. Therefore, the polymer electrolyte fuel cell is most suitable for the above-mentioned applications. .

  In general, a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) has a supported carbon layer (hereinafter referred to as a catalyst electrode layer) carrying a catalyst metal serving as an anode (fuel electrode) and a cathode (air electrode) on both sides of a solid polymer electrolyte membrane. It is comprised from the structure made. Here, a diffusion layer is formed on the surface of the anode and cathode opposite to the surface in contact with the solid polymer electrolyte membrane in order to smoothly diffuse the hydrogen, methanol, air, and oxygen as fuel. Furthermore, the separator which consists of a conductor which has the supply path of the reactive gas is arrange | positioned on the outer side, These are integrated, and a unit cell is comprised.

  In the polymer electrolyte fuel cell, for example, when hydrogen is used as the fuel, water is generated from the hydrogen in the fuel and the oxygen in the air during the power generation by the reaction represented by the following reaction formula.

Anode (negative electrode) side H ₂ → 2H + + 2e−
Cathode (positive electrode) side 1 / 2O ₂ + 2H + + 2e− → H ₂ O
Total reaction H ₂ + 1 / 2O ₂ → H ₂ O
In the above reaction, a maximum voltage of about 1 V is generated during power generation of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell. In an actual system, a stacked fuel cell comprising a cell stack in which a plurality of unit cells are stacked and electrically connected in series according to the output scale is used. A fuel cell for a fuel cell vehicle is required to have an output of 50 to 70 kW, and 200 to 500 unit cells need to be stacked.

  For polymer electrolyte fuel cell separators for mobile objects such as fuel cell vehicles that require high power density, metal-based material separators that are easier to mold and thinner than carbon-based materials are being developed. ing. When the separator thickness is reduced, the volume of the stacked fuel cell can be reduced, and an improvement in power density can be expected.

  From such a background, metal separator materials have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3). Further, not only the thickness can be reduced, but also the weight of the stacked fuel cell can be reduced by reducing the specific gravity of the material. For such a material, a material having a low specific gravity such as aluminum is used. However, since aluminum is easily corroded and the corrosion product has high electronic resistance, the surface must be coated. Against this background, various surface coating methods have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Documents 4, 5, and 6).

JP 2003-193206 A JP 2005-298960 A JP 2003-272659 A JP 2000-58080 A JP 2000-106197 A JP 2006-134777 A

  A fuel cell for a moving body such as a fuel cell vehicle is strongly required to have a small-sized and lightweight stacked fuel cell.

  In the prior art, the volume has been reduced by changing the separator from a carbon-based material to a metal-based material and making the separator thinner. However, a very thin separator with a metal separator thickness of 0.1 mm has already been developed as a metallic separator, and further thinning the separator causes problems in strength and greatly reduces the volume of the stacked fuel cell. It ’s difficult.

  Further, in the prior art, a material having a small specific gravity has already been used for weight reduction, and it is difficult to further reduce the weight of the stacked fuel cell only by changing the material.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a porous layer on the surface of a conductive separator and form a catalyst electrode layer directly on the separator surface, thereby simplifying the cell configuration and making the unit cell thinner. As a result, the volume of the cell stack can be reduced to provide a lightweight fuel cell with a high output density and a light weight.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a unit cell by providing a pair of electrodes on both surfaces of an electrolyte membrane and covering the outer surface of each electrode with a pair of separators, and stacking a plurality of the unit cells. In the laminated fuel cell configured as described above, a porous layer is provided in a portion of the separator that contacts the electrolyte membrane, and a catalyst electrode layer is formed on the porous layer.

  The separator is made of a metal material composed of at least one metal selected from aluminum, titanium, magnesium, zirconium, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, hafnium, zinc, bismuth, antimony, and an alloy of the metal. And

  The separator is composed of a composite metal material having a center layer and a surface layer, and the center layer is selected from iron, aluminum, copper, titanium, magnesium, zirconium, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, nickel, chromium and alloys of the metal. The surface layer is composed of at least one metal selected from aluminum, titanium, magnesium, zirconium, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, hafnium, zinc, bismuth, antimony and alloys of the metal. It is characterized by that.

  Furthermore, titanium, zirconium, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, chromium, tin, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, osmium, between the catalyst electrode layer and the metal surface constituting the separator, A metal conductive layer composed of at least one metal selected from iridium, platinum, gold, and an alloy of the metal is formed.

  Further, the metal conductive layer is composed of multiple layers, and the electrode metal conductive layer on the catalyst electrode layer side is at least one metal selected from ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, osmium, iridium, platinum, gold and alloys of the metals. The separator metal conductive layer on the separator side is made of at least one metal selected from titanium, zirconium, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, chromium, tin, silver and alloys of the metals. It is characterized by being configured.

  The present invention relates to an electrolyte membrane, electrodes disposed on both surfaces of the electrolyte membrane, and a stacked fuel cell having a pair of separators covering the outer surfaces of the electrodes as unit cells. By forming the layer and integrating the separator and the catalyst electrode layer, it is possible to reduce the volume of the cell stack and provide a stacked fuel cell having a high output density and a light weight.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a separator body 101 showing the first embodiment. The separator body 101 is composed of a pair of gaskets 5 that are in close contact with the flat portions 2 on the front and back surfaces of the separator 1. The separator 1 has a flat periphery and is molded at the center to form a flow path. The flat part 2 of the separator 1 is a part that makes a surface contact with the gasket 5, and the flow path part 3 is an uneven groove for allowing reaction gas (fuel gas and oxidant gas) and cooling water to flow through the front and back of the separator 1. Two types of gasket 5 are used according to the reaction gas and the cooling water. The separator 1 is further formed with a manifold 4 serving as an inlet / outlet for the reaction gas and the cooling water.

  When the separator body 101 according to the present embodiment is actually used, a unit cell is configured by combining the electrolyte membrane 6 and the pair of separator bodies 101, and this is configured into a cell stack to form a stacked fuel cell.

  FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of a fuel cell configuration using the separator body according to the present embodiment. The separator body 101 is composed of two types. 101A represents a separator body having a gasket for allowing a reaction gas to flow on both sides, and 101B represents a separator body having a gasket for reaction gas on one side and a cooling water on the other side. The electrolyte membrane 6 is sandwiched between the gas flow surfaces of the separator bodies 101A and 101B to form one unit cell. In addition, a stacked fuel cell is formed using the current collector plate 7, the insulating plate 8, and the clamping plate 9 on both surfaces of the cell stack. W indicates the path of the cooling water.

  The separator body 101 shown in FIG. 1 is in contact with the electrolyte membrane 6, which is an adjacent member, at the top of the convex surface of the separator 1. The top of the convex surface of the separator 1 has conductivity and a catalyst electrode layer is formed. The other surface of the separator 1 is irrelevant to electrical conduction and may be an insulating layer or conductive. The separator 1 is made of, for example, a metal or a porous carbon / resin composite material.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a longitudinal section taken along the line AA of the separator 1 shown in FIG. A porous layer 10 is formed on the entire outer surface of the separator 1. A catalytic electrode layer 11 is formed on the porous layer 10 at the top of the convex surface of the separator 1 to have electrical conductivity, and is electrically connected to the base of the separator 1.

  4 is an enlarged schematic view of the vicinity of the catalyst electrode layer 11 in the separator cross section shown in FIG. A catalyst electrode layer 11 is formed in the porous layer 10 so as to cover the pore surface of the porous layer, and a void is formed so that a reaction gas can be supplied to the catalyst electrode layer 11.

With the above configuration, the porous layer 10 is provided on the surface of the separator 1 to form a diffusion layer, and the catalyst electrode layer 11 is formed on a part of the porous layer 10, so that the separator 1 and the catalyst electrode By integrating the layers 11, the volume of the unit cell and the cell stack can be reduced to provide a stacked fuel cell with a high power density and a light weight.
[Second Embodiment]
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described. When a metal is used as the material of the separator 1, sufficient long-term stability may not be obtained in the first embodiment depending on the type of metal. For example, when the separator 1 is made of a material that does not have sufficient corrosion resistance, such as magnesium or zinc, significant corrosion occurs, causing deterioration of the fuel cell.

  Therefore, it is preferable that the metal selected as the separator 1 has a certain degree of corrosion resistance. Of these, titanium, zirconium, tantalum, niobium, and tungsten are highly corrosion-resistant metals, and at the same time, the amount of corrosion products released is extremely small compared to other metals. This is because the corrosion product has a property of staying on the surface as an oxide film. Therefore, the adverse effect on the electrode and the electrolyte membrane is small, and is a preferable metal in the fuel cell. Aluminum is poor in corrosion resistance compared to the above metals, but since a film having the same quality as alumite is formed during corrosion, the amount of corrosion products released is relatively small.

By selecting such a metal as the material of the separator 1, it is possible to expect a long-life separator in which elution of metal ions is reduced and deterioration of the electrolyte membrane 6 and the catalyst electrode layer 11 can be minimized.
[Third Embodiment]
The example of the separator which consists of a composite metal material in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. Among the metals used for the separator 1, there are expensive metals. Therefore, a relatively inexpensive metal such as iron, aluminum, copper, titanium, magnesium, zirconium, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, nickel, chromium, and an alloy of the metal is used for the center layer of the separator 1, and the expensive metal is outside. By using a composite structure in which the surface layer is arranged as a thin film, the amount of expensive metal used can be reduced.
[Fourth Embodiment]
FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of the fourth embodiment. When a cell is manufactured in the above-described embodiment, the initial power generation characteristics may be low or the voltage difference between cells may be large. This is because the electrical contact between the separator 1 and the catalyst electrode layer 11 is not good.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 5, titanium, zirconium, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, chromium are plated between the separator 1 and the catalyst electrode layer 11 by plating, vapor deposition, sputtering, CVD, or the like. A metal conductive layer 12 such as tin, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, osmium, iridium, platinum, gold and an alloy of the metal is formed. Thereby, the electrical contact between the separator 1 and the catalyst electrode layer 11 is improved, the power generation characteristics are improved, and the difference in the power generation characteristics for each cell is reduced.
[Fifth Embodiment]
FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of the fifth embodiment of the present invention. Depending on the type of metal, the metal conductive layer 12 may not have sufficient long-term stability in the fourth embodiment. This is because when the metal conductive layer 12 is made of a material that does not have sufficient corrosion resistance, such as iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, and tin, significant corrosion occurs and causes deterioration of the fuel cell. Therefore, the metal selected as the metal conductive layer 12 preferably has a certain degree of corrosion resistance and conductivity. Ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, osmium, iridium, platinum, and gold selected as such metals are expensive materials.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, titanium, zirconium, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, chromium, tin, silver, and an alloy of the metal are arranged on the separator 1 side as a separator metal conductive layer 12a. Then, by disposing an expensive metal as a thin film as the electrode metal conductive layer 12b on the side opposite to the separator 1, the amount of the expensive metal used can be reduced and high corrosion resistance can be obtained.
[Sixth Embodiment]
A sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described. The metal used for the outermost layer of the separator 1 can easily form the porous layer 10 by anodizing treatment. Moreover, the pore shape and the thickness of the porous layer can be arbitrarily controlled by setting conditions such as an anodizing bath, current, and voltage. Thereby, it becomes possible to improve the diffusion of the reaction gas to the catalyst electrode layer 11 and the discharge property of the generated water, and it can be expected to improve the power generation characteristics and the life characteristics.

  If the thickness of the catalyst electrode layer 11 is greater than 200 μm, it becomes difficult to diffuse reaction gas into the catalyst electrode layer 11 and discharge generated water, resulting in a decrease in power generation characteristics. Therefore, the thickness of the catalyst electrode layer 11 is 0.1 μm. If it is above and 200 micrometers or less, the electric power generation characteristic is fully maintained.

  Similarly, when the thickness of the porous layer 10 is greater than 300 μm, it is difficult to diffuse the reaction gas into the catalyst electrode layer 11 and discharge generated water, resulting in a decrease in power generation characteristics. Therefore, the thickness of the porous layer 10 is If it is 0.1 μm or more and 300 μm or less, the power generation characteristics are sufficiently maintained.

  The porous layer 10 has almost no proton conductivity. For this reason, the catalyst electrode layer 11 is formed so as to cover the surface of the porous layer 10, and the catalyst electrode layer 11 is in direct contact with the electrolyte membrane 6, whereby protons between the electrolyte membrane 6 and the catalyst electrode layer 11 are formed. It is expected that the movement will be smooth and the power generation characteristics and life characteristics will be improved.

  Example 1 of the present invention will be described. Example 1 has a single-layer separator. An example in which aluminum (A5052) is used for the metal plate for the separator is shown. In order to form a channel groove with an aluminum thickness of 0.3 mm, the coiled thin plate was pressed into a separator having an uneven shape on both sides of a flat portion and a central portion with an extrusion press. At the same time, punching was performed to form a manifold. Thus, a separator having the shape shown in FIG. 1 was manufactured.

  Next, a method for forming a porous layer on the processed separator will be described. Prior to forming the porous layer by anodizing, blasting was performed for removing the scale according to the surface state of the separator after processing, followed by degreasing with an alkali or an organic solvent. Next, polishing, acid cleaning, and alkali cleaning for removing the oxide film were performed. Thereafter, an anodizing treatment was performed to form a porous layer.

  In the anodizing treatment, 3 to 10% oxalic acid was used in the electrolytic bath, the voltage was 30 to 100 V, the temperature was 10 ° C. or less, the treatment time was 20 to 120 minutes, and the film thickness was 20 to 50 μm.

  Next, a method for forming the catalyst electrode layer on the porous layer will be described. An electrode catalyst in which 50 wt% platinum is supported on carbon black is used, and this electrode catalyst is dispersed in a solvent obtained by diluting a mixed solution of ethanol and isopropyl alcohol with pure water. A Nafion solution (concentration 5 wt%, manufactured by Aldrich) in which NaPotion (registered trademark) manufactured by DuPont was dissolved was combined with the electrocatalyst dispersion at a ratio of 1: 9 by weight of the electrocatalyst and the Nafion solution. Mixing while volatilizing the solvent, a viscous electrocatalyst slurry was prepared.

This electrode catalyst slurry was applied to the top of the convex surface of the separator 1 by screen printing, and the solvent of the electrode catalyst slurry was dried to form a catalyst electrode layer. The amount of platinum in the catalyst electrode layer was 0.5 mg / cm ² per unit area. Thereafter, sealing treatment was performed in boiling water. This completed the separator.

  The gasket was manufactured by punching a sheet-like elastic body. The material used was silicon rubber which is excellent in heat resistance, water resistance and creep resistance. In addition to this, EPDM is also suitable. The gasket may be made of a hard material such as PPS without being an elastic body. However, since the sealing effect is small, the separator 1 and the gasket 5 need to be in close contact with each other using a liquid gasket or the like. Thus, a separator body was obtained.

  Two separator bodies prepared in the above-mentioned process are prepared, and a 50 μm-thick Nafion film (Nafion 112 (registered trademark)) manufactured by DuPont is used as the electrolyte film, and the separator body is pressure-bonded to both surfaces of the electrolyte film by hot pressing. A unit cell was manufactured.

  A stacked fuel cell was manufactured by stacking a plurality of the unit cells, arranging current collector plates and insulating plates at both ends, and fixing the outside with a load set by a clamping plate.

  The material used above is an example for explaining the present embodiment, and the present invention is not limited to this. Further, the separator manifold, the flow path structure, the gasket structure, and the fuel cell configuration are not limited thereto. Various anodizing processes exist, and appropriate means can be selected as necessary.

  Next, Example 2 having a separator made of a composite metal material will be described. An example is shown in which stainless steel (SUS304) is used for the center layer of the separator and titanium (TP270) is used for the surface layer. A separator substrate is made by cladding a thin layer of titanium on both sides of a stainless steel coiled sheet by cold rolling. The finished thickness of the separator substrate used here was 0.2 mm. Since the separator substrate after being clad was work-hardened, it was annealed at a temperature of 400 to 800 ° C. to obtain a plate material having properties suitable for subsequent press working. In order to form a channel groove, it was processed into a separator having an uneven shape on both sides of a flat portion and a central portion with an extrusion press. At the same time, punching was performed to form a manifold. Thus, a separator having the shape shown in FIG. 1 was manufactured.

  Next, a method for forming a porous layer on the processed separator will be described. Prior to forming the porous layer by anodization, blasting was performed for scale removal according to the surface state of the separator 1 after processing, followed by degreasing with an alkali or an organic solvent. Next, polishing, acid cleaning, and alkali cleaning for removing the oxide film were performed. Thereafter, an anodizing treatment was performed to form a porous layer.

  The anodizing treatment uses a concentration of 0.1 to 1.0 mol / L phosphoric acid and 0.01 to 0.5 mol / L ammonium hydrogen fluoride in an electrolytic bath, a bath temperature of 20 ° C. to 40 ° C., and a voltage. Was processed at 50 to 200 V and electrolysis time was 5 to 60 minutes, and the film thickness was 10 to 50 μm.

  Next, a method for forming the catalyst electrode layer on the porous layer will be described. An electrode catalyst in which 50 wt% platinum is supported on carbon black is used, and this electrode catalyst is dispersed in a solvent obtained by diluting a mixed solution of ethanol and isopropyl alcohol with pure water. A Nafion solution (concentration 5 wt%, manufactured by Aldrich) in which NaPotion (registered trademark) manufactured by DuPont was dissolved was combined with the electrocatalyst dispersion at a ratio of 1: 9 by weight of the electrocatalyst and the Nafion solution. Mixing while volatilizing the solvent, a viscous electrocatalyst slurry was prepared.

This electrode catalyst slurry was applied to the top of the convex surface of the separator by screen printing, and the solvent of the electrode catalyst slurry was dried to form a catalyst electrode layer. The amount of platinum in the catalyst electrode layer was 0.5 mg / cm ² per unit area. This completed the separator.

  The gasket was manufactured by punching a sheet-like elastic body. The material used was silicon rubber which is excellent in heat resistance, water resistance and creep resistance. In addition to this, EPDM is also suitable. The gasket may be made of a hard material such as PPS without being an elastic body. However, since the sealing effect is small, a liquid gasket or the like needs to be adhered between the separator and the gasket. Thus, a separator body was obtained.

  Two separator bodies prepared in the above-mentioned process are prepared, and a 50 μm-thick Nafion film (Nafion 112 (registered trademark)) manufactured by DuPont is used as the electrolyte film, and the separator body is pressure-bonded to both surfaces of the electrolyte film by hot pressing. A unit cell was manufactured.

  A stacked fuel cell was manufactured by stacking a plurality of unit cells to form a cell stack, arranging current collector plates and insulating plates on both ends, and fixing the outer side with a weight set by a clamping plate.

  The material used above is an example for explaining the present embodiment, and the present invention is not limited to this. Further, the separator manifold, the flow path structure, the gasket structure, and the fuel cell configuration are not limited thereto. Various anodizing processes exist, and appropriate means can be selected as necessary.

  A third embodiment of the present invention will be described. An example in which stainless steel (SUS304) is used for the central layer of the composite metal material used for the separator, titanium (TP270) is used for the surface layer, and a metal conductive layer is provided between the catalyst electrode layer and the separator is shown. A thin layer of titanium was clad by cold rolling on both sides of a coiled stainless steel plate to form a pressure-bonded composite material, thereby producing a separator substrate. The finished thickness of the separator substrate used here was 0.2 mm. Since the separator substrate after being clad was work-hardened, it was annealed between 400-800 ° C. to obtain a plate material having properties suitable for press working. In order to form a channel groove, it was processed into a separator having an uneven shape on both sides of a flat portion and a central portion with an extrusion press. At the same time, punching was performed to form a manifold. Thus, a separator having the shape shown in FIG. 1 was manufactured.

  Next, a method for forming a porous layer on the processed separator will be described. Prior to forming the porous layer by anodization, blasting was performed for removing the scale in accordance with the surface state of the processed separator, followed by degreasing with an alkali or an organic solvent. Next, polishing, acid cleaning, and alkali cleaning for removing the oxide film were performed. Thereafter, an anodizing treatment was performed to form a porous layer.

  The anodizing treatment uses a concentration of 0.1 to 1.0 mol / L phosphoric acid and 0.01 to 0.5 mol / L ammonium hydrogen fluoride in the electrolytic bath, the liquid temperature is 20 ° C. to 40 ° C., the voltage Was processed at 50 to 200 V and electrolysis time was 5 to 60 minutes, and the film thickness was 10 to 50 μm.

Next, a method for forming a metal conductive layer with nickel on the porous layer will be described. Nickel was plated in a Watt bath of nickel sulfate 250 g / L, nickel hydrochloride 40 g / L, and boric acid 40 g / L at a liquid temperature of 30 ° C. and 0.1 A / cm ² . In Example 1, the insulating porous layer remains on the surface, and the conductivity between the separator and the catalyst electrode layer is poor. In this embodiment, a conductive metal layer can be provided to ensure conduction.

  Next, a method for forming the catalyst electrode layer on the porous layer will be described. An electrode catalyst in which 50 wt% platinum is supported on carbon black is used, and this electrode catalyst is dispersed in a solvent obtained by diluting a mixed solution of ethanol and isopropyl alcohol with pure water. A Nafion solution (concentration 5 wt%, manufactured by Aldrich) in which NaPotion (registered trademark) manufactured by DuPont was dissolved was combined with the electrocatalyst dispersion at a ratio of 1: 9 by weight of the electrocatalyst and the Nafion solution. Mixing while volatilizing the solvent, a viscous electrocatalyst slurry was prepared.

This electrode catalyst slurry was applied to the top of the convex surface of the separator by screen printing, and the solvent of the electrode catalyst slurry was dried to form a catalyst electrode layer. The amount of platinum in the catalyst electrode layer was 0.5 mg / cm ² per unit area. This completed the separator.

  The gasket was manufactured by punching a sheet-like elastic body. The material used was silicon rubber which is excellent in heat resistance, water resistance and creep resistance. Thus, a separator body is obtained.

  Two separator bodies prepared in the above-mentioned process are prepared, and a 50 μm-thick Nafion film (Nafion 112 (registered trademark)) manufactured by DuPont is used as the electrolyte film, and the separator body is pressure-bonded to both surfaces of the electrolyte film by hot pressing. A unit cell was manufactured.

  A stacked fuel cell was manufactured by stacking a plurality of the unit cells, arranging current collector plates and insulating plates at both ends, and fixing the outside with a load set by a clamping plate.

  The material used above is an example for explaining the present embodiment, and the present invention is not limited to this. Further, the separator manifold, the flow path structure, the gasket structure, and the fuel cell configuration are not limited thereto. There are also various anodizing and nickel plating processes, and appropriate means can be selected as necessary.

  An example in which stainless steel (SUS304) is used for the center layer and titanium (TP270) is used for the outer layer of the multilayer metal plate used for the separator, and a multilayer metal conductive layer is provided between the catalyst electrode layer and the separator. A separator substrate is made by cladding a thin layer of titanium on both sides of a stainless steel coiled sheet by cold rolling. The finished thickness of the separator substrate used here was 0.2 mm. Since the separator substrate after being clad was work-hardened, it was annealed between 400-800 ° C. to obtain a plate material having properties suitable for press working. In order to form a channel groove, it was processed into a separator having an uneven shape on both sides of a flat portion and a central portion with an extrusion press. At the same time, punching was performed to form a manifold. Thus, a separator having the shape shown in FIG. 1 was manufactured.

  Next, a method for forming a porous layer on the processed separator will be described. Prior to forming the porous layer by anodizing, blasting was performed for removing the scale according to the surface state of the separator after processing, followed by degreasing with an alkali or an organic solvent. Next, polishing, acid cleaning, and alkali cleaning for removing the oxide film were performed. Thereafter, anodization was performed to form a porous layer.

  The anodizing treatment uses a concentration of 0.1 to 1.0 mol / L phosphoric acid and 0.01 to 0.5 mol / L ammonium hydrogen fluoride in the electrolytic bath, the liquid temperature is 20 ° C. to 40 ° C., the voltage Was processed at 50 to 200 V and electrolysis time was 5 to 60 minutes, and the film thickness was 10 to 50 μm.

  Next, a method for forming nickel as a separator metal conductive layer in the porous layer will be described. Nickel was plated by holding in a Watt bath of nickel sulfate 250 g / L, nickel hydrochloride 40 g / L, and boric acid 40 g / L at a liquid temperature of 30 ° C. and 0.1 A / cm 2 for 5 minutes.

Next, a method for forming gold as an electrode metal conductive layer on the separator metal conductive layer will be described. Gold was plated by maintaining the composition of potassium gold cyanide 2 g / L, potassium cyanide 70 g / L, and dipotassium hydrogen phosphate 20 g / L at a liquid temperature of 30 ° C. and 0.1 A / cm ² for 2 minutes. Thereby, the corrosion resistance can be further improved and the life can be extended.

  Next, a method for forming the catalyst electrode layer on the porous layer will be described. An electrode catalyst in which 50 wt% platinum is supported on carbon black is used, and this electrode catalyst is dispersed in a solvent obtained by diluting a mixed solution of ethanol and isopropyl alcohol with pure water. A Nafion solution (concentration 5 wt%, manufactured by Aldrich) in which NaPotion (registered trademark) manufactured by DuPont was dissolved was combined with the electrocatalyst dispersion at a ratio of 1: 9 by weight of the electrocatalyst and the Nafion solution. Mixing while volatilizing the solvent, a viscous electrocatalyst slurry was prepared.

This electrode catalyst slurry was applied to the top of the convex surface of the separator by screen printing, and the solvent of the electrode catalyst slurry was dried to form a catalyst electrode layer. The amount of platinum in the catalyst electrode layer was 0.5 mg / cm ² per unit area. This completed the separator. A separator body was obtained by integrating the gasket described above with this.

  Two separator bodies prepared in the above-mentioned process are prepared, and a 50 μm-thick Nafion film (Nafion 112 (registered trademark)) manufactured by DuPont is used as the electrolyte film, and the separator body is pressure-bonded to both surfaces of the electrolyte film by hot pressing. A unit cell was manufactured. A stacked fuel cell was manufactured by stacking a plurality of the unit cells, arranging current collector plates and insulating plates at both ends, and fixing the outside with a load set by a clamping plate.

  The material used above is an example for explaining the present embodiment, and the present invention is not limited to this. Further, the separator manifold, the flow path structure, the gasket structure, and the fuel cell configuration are not limited thereto. Various processes of anodization, nickel plating, and gold plating exist, and an appropriate means can be selected as necessary.

It is an expansion | deployment perspective view which shows the separator of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a development perspective view of a fuel cell using a separator of a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view in the AA line of the separator shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the vicinity of a catalyst electrode layer shown in FIG. 3. It is a schematic diagram which shows the separator of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the separator of the 5th Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Separator, 2 ... Flat part, 3 ... Flow part, 4 ... Manifold, 5 ... Gasket, 6 ... Electrolyte membrane, 7 ... Current collecting plate, 8 ... Insulating plate, 9 ... Fastening plate, 10 ... Porous layer, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Catalyst electrode layer, 12 ... Metal conductive layer, 101 ... Separator body

Claims (12)

  A stacked fuel cell in which a pair of electrodes are provided on both surfaces of an electrolyte membrane and the outer surface of each electrode is covered with a pair of separators to form a unit cell, and a plurality of the unit cells are stacked. A laminated fuel cell, wherein a porous layer is provided in a portion in contact with an electrolyte membrane, and a catalyst electrode layer is formed on the porous layer.   2. The stacked fuel cell according to claim 1, wherein the separator is made of a metal material.   3. The stacked fuel cell according to claim 2, wherein the metal constituting the separator is at least one selected from aluminum, titanium, magnesium, zirconium, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, hafnium, zinc, bismuth, antimony, and an alloy of the metal. A stacked fuel cell comprising a seed metal.   4. The stacked fuel cell according to claim 2, wherein the separator is made of a composite metal material having a center layer and a surface layer.   5. The stacked fuel cell according to claim 4, wherein the central layer constituting the separator is at least selected from iron, aluminum, copper, titanium, magnesium, zirconium, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, nickel, chromium, and an alloy of the metal. And at least one metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum, titanium, magnesium, zirconium, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, hafnium, zinc, bismuth, antimony and an alloy of the metal. A stacked fuel cell comprising:   6. The stacked fuel cell according to claim 2, wherein a metal conductive layer is formed between the catalyst electrode layer and a metal surface constituting the separator.   6. The stacked fuel cell according to claim 4, wherein the metal conductive layer formed between the catalyst electrode layer of the separator and the metal to be the separator is titanium, zirconium, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, iron, cobalt, nickel, A laminated fuel cell comprising at least one metal selected from copper, zinc, chromium, tin, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, osmium, iridium, platinum, gold and an alloy of the metals.   8. The stacked fuel cell according to claim 6, wherein the metal conductive layer is formed of a plurality of layers.   9. The stacked fuel cell according to claim 8, wherein the electrode metal conductive layer on the catalyst electrode layer side is at least one selected from ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, osmium, iridium, platinum, gold, and an alloy of the metal. At least one metal selected from titanium, zirconium, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, chromium, tin, silver, and an alloy of the metal. A stacked fuel cell comprising:   3. The stacked fuel cell according to claim 2, wherein the porous layer of the separator is formed by anodization.   3. The stacked fuel cell according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the catalyst electrode layer formed on the porous layer of the separator is 0.1 μm or more and 200 μm or less. 4.   3. The stacked fuel cell according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the porous layer of the separator is 0.1 μm or more and 300 μm or less. 4.

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