Thursday, March 15, 2007

US Patent 7189472 - Nanofibers for fuel cell

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7189472.pdf

The large surface-to-volume ratio of nanostructured materials has made these materials favorable as catalytic carriers for fuel cells. This patent from Toshiba uses nanofibers with high aspect ratios with aluminum oxide powder to improve power efficiency of fuel cells. Claim 1 reads:

1. An electrode for a fuel cell comprising: a film including: carbon nano-fibers having particle diameters of 5-1000 nm and an aspect ratio of particle diameter to particle length of from 1:10 to 1:1000; aluminum oxide powder; fuel cell catalyst carried on a surface of said carbon nano-fibers; and ion conductive material.

Labels: ,