Patent ID: 9401523
Filing Date: 2016-07-26
CPC Classification: H01M,Y02E

Claim Text:
1. A method of starting up a fuel cell comprising: providing a fuel cell comprising a membrane electrolyte having a first side, a second side, and a thickness; an anode over the first side of said membrane, a cathode over the second side of said membrane, an anode gas flow field and a cathode gas flow field, an oxidant gas residing in the flow fields of both the anode and the cathode, said anode having a thickness of less than about 10 μm and said cathode being at least twice as thick as said anode, said anode comprising a metal catalyst in an amount of about 0.02 to about 0.07 mg/cm connecting said fuel cell anode to a fuel gas supply; flowing a fuel gas through the flow field of said anode, the flow field of said anode having a ratio of anode flow field volume to anode electrode area that ranges from about 0.01 cm to 0.06 cm so that flowing the fuel gas through the flow field substantially replaces said oxidant gas, wherein i) the ratio of anode flow field volume to anode electrode area, ii) the thickness of said anode and said cathode, or iii) the amount of said metal catalyst of said anode or any combination of i, ii, and iii, provide a potential increase on the cathode during such gas change that is no more than about 0.1V in order to reduce electrode degradation; connecting said fuel cell cathode to an oxidant gas supply; and connecting said fuel cell to an external load.