Porous cathode assembly for fused carbonate fuel cell

摘要

A porous cathode (1) for a fused carbonate fuel cell is characterised by a bimodal distribution of porosity within the adjacent layers forming the complete electrode assembly. A matrix course (6) saturated with a fused alkaline carbonate as electrolyte is separated from a corrugated current collector terminal (3) by the porous layers (7,8) of e.g. lithium treated nickel oxide. These layers are formed during a sintering process applied to the powdered material and the cavities (8a) thus formed in the layer (8) are dimensionally controlled to match the volume of electrolyte in the system without impairing the gas-phase transfer mechanism promoted by the greater and similarly controlled porosity (7a) of the layer (7).