Nouveau type d'électrode pour piles à combustible

Abstract

After recalling that the main disadvantages of the porous gas electrode result from the antagonism of the reagent feed and charge evacuation processes, a new type of electrode, known as the lateral diffusion electrode, is described in which these two processes take a place in separate areasm because of the highly specialized structure of the active carbons used in the consititution of this electrode. Hence the lateral diffusion electrode theoretically provides a more efficient system than conventional gas electrodes. It is also shown that feed through the cross-section of these electrodes leads to generator structures which are very different from the usual structures; this in turn results e.g. in very compact design and the possibility of obtaining extremely good power characteristics per unit of mass.