Fuel cell having porous electrodes and method for forming same

摘要

A fuel cell device has a composite particle electrode ( 200 ) formed using particles ( 210 ) having a combination of ion conductor material, electron conductor material, and catalyst material. Each composite particle ( 210 ) is preferably formed to have a substantially spherical outer layer ( 480 ) of ion conductor material ( 481 ) with conductive and catalyst particles ( 482, 484 ) are dispersed throughout the outer layer ( 480 ). An array of composite particles ( 210 ) is layered in a substantially structured or ordered manner on a membrane support structure ( 220 ) to form the fuel cell electrode. A fuel cell electrode so formed has interstitial gaps between the composite particles that result in a structure permeable to oxygen and other fluids.