Patent ID: 9343753
Filing Date: 2016-05-17
CPC Classification: B33Y,H01M,Y02E

Claim Text:
1. A fuel cell device comprising: an elongate substrate having a length that is the greatest dimension whereby the elongate substrate exhibits thermal expansion along a dominant axis that is coextensive with the length, a reaction zone along a first portion of the length configured to be heated to an operating reaction temperature, and at least one cold zone along a second portion of the length configured to remain at a low temperature below the operating reaction temperature when the reaction zone is heated; at least one fuel passage in the elongate substrate extending from the at least one cold zone to the reaction zone, and having an associated anode in the reaction zone; at least one oxidizer passage in the elongate substrate extending from the at least one cold zone to the reaction zone, and having an associated cathode in the reaction zone positioned in opposing relation to the anode; and an electrolyte disposed in the reaction zone with a first surface in contact with the anode and a second surface in contact with the cathode, the anode and cathode each having an electrical pathway extending to an exterior surface of the at least one cold zone for electrical connection at the low temperature below the operating reaction temperature, wherein the first surface, the second surface, or both the first and second surfaces has an uneven surface topography formed from a sintered nano-sized ceramic particulate material and wherein the nano-sized ceramic particulate material, before being sintered, is distributed in a fractal arrangement outwardly decreasing in size.