Laminar Flow Fuel Cell Incorporating Concentrated Liquid Oxidant

Problem: Improve electrolyte properties of full scale hydrogen halogen fuel cells, as well as overcome the mass transfer limitations of traditional laminar flow fuel cells. Technology: The invention describes the design of a hydrogen-halogen laminar flow fuel cell (HFLFFC) that can produce scalable, reversible and highly efficiency electrochemical energy. It consists of an electrochemical cell with a cathode on either side of a microfluidic channel with several smaller channels that control fuel and electrolyte flow. Fuel is provided by these smaller channels or through a porous material that allows gaseous fuel to reach the surface of the anode. The mixing zones between fuel, electrolyte, and oxidant can be kept small enough to eliminate any polarization due to mixed potentials. An additional feature of the device is that as the system approaches peak power there is no need to recirculate the hydrogen gas or oxidant, which may be recovered with the supply of current. Christopher Noble crn@mit.edu