European Journal of Scientific Research - EuroJournals

405 R. Y. Tamakloe, K. Singh and Clovis A. Linkous
may block or at least restrict the flow of reactive gas through the gas diffusion electrode. This might
have contributed to the mass transport limiting current of the cell. In the PtxPt cell where the platinum
serves as a catalyst, electrode and current collector the open-circuit current was high. These trends are
illustrated in Fig. 7.
The most common solution to the above conductive problem may be to use carbon block
instead of machining an acrylic block, a milled pattern into the face of a graphitic carbon block may
serves as both gas distributor and current collector. Other current collector materials, such as metals
that form thin, conductive oxide films may work, like Ni, Ru, and Pb. Of course, obtaining these
materials as screens or meshes is difficult.
With acrylic block, platinum mesh is ideal to act as both electrode and current collector as
proved by the hi-tec (Wasserstoff-Energie-System, 2005) experimental fuel cell.
References
[1] Stuart Baird, M.Eng., M.A, Energy Fact Sheet. Originally published by the Energy Educators
of Ontario, 1993.
[2] Report of the DOE Advanced Fuel-Cell Commercialization Working Group, Edited by S.S.
Penner, DOE/ER/0643, prepared by the DOE Advanced Fuel Cell Working Group (AFC2WG)
or the United States Department of Energy under Contract No. DEFG03-93ER30213, March
1995
[3] EG&G Services Parsons, Inc., Fuel Cell Handbook. U. S Department of Energy. October,
2000.
[4] Walt Pyle, Alan Spivak, Reynaldo Cortez, and Jim Healy. Making Electricity with Hydrogen,
Build your own Fuel Cell. 2003.
[5] Wasserstoff-Energie-System GmbH, Hydrogen Energy System, 2005.