Patent ID: 6969664

Claim:
A fuel cell comprising: a first monocrystalline doped silicon substrate having a positive half-cell formed in a cell area defined on a surface thereof, said positive half-cell comprising parallel microporous strips of a positive catalytic electrode material, permeable to a fuel gas, connectable to an electrical load circuit of the fuel cell, and a plurality of parallel trenches formed under said parallel microporous strips of a positive catalytic electrode material for the passage of the fuel gas fed thereto; a second monocrystalline doped silicon substrate having a negative half-cell formed in a cell area defined on a surface thereof, said negative half-cell comprising parallel microporous strips of a negative catalytic electrode material, permeable to an oxygen containing gas, connectable to the electrical load circuit of the fuel cell, and a plurality of parallel trenches formed under said microporous strips of a negative catalytic electrode material for the passage of the oxygen containing gas fed thereto; a cation exchange membrane interposed over the defined cell areas between said positive and negative half-cells for hydraulically separating them and contacting said parallel microporous strips of positive and negative catalytic electrode material; means for supplying the fuel gas to said parallel microporous strips of a positive catalytic electrode material; means for supplying the oxygen containing gas to said parallel microporous strips of a negative catalytic electrode material and for exhausting the products of the electrode reaction; and each of said parallel microporous positive and negative strips of catalytic electrode material being respectively alternated with parallel current distributing strips and current collecting strips of solid metal, the parallel microporous positive and negative catalytic electrode material being deposited in a heterogeneous columnar crystalline skeleton residue in the trenches and at least partly filling them to define a microporous geometrically complementary structure of the supporting heterogeneous columnar crystalline skeleton residue.