Patent ID: 7879472

Claim:
A fuel cell comprising: a first substantially planar substrate defining a first aperture therethrough; a second substantially planar substrate defining a second aperture therethrough; a proton exchange membrane having a first major surface and an opposing second major surface, with an edge extending between the first major surface and the second major surface, the proton exchange membrane disposed between the first substantially planar substrate and the second substantially planar substrate so that the first major surface is supported by the first substantially planar substrate and the second major surface is supported by the second substantially planar substrate, the proton exchange membrane also spanning across the first aperture and the second aperture; wherein, the first aperture is at least partially aligned with the second aperture and the proton exchange layer is unsupported across at least a major portion of the first aperture and the second aperture; the first substantially planar substrate having a portion that extends laterally beyond the edge of the proton exchange membrane; the second substantially planar substrate having a portion that extends laterally beyond the edge of the proton exchange membrane; a first electrode extending along the first substantially planar substrate from the first aperture to the portion of the first substantially planar substrate that extends laterally beyond the edge of the proton exchange membrane; and a second electrode extending along the second substantially planar substrate from the second aperture to the portion of the second substantially planar substrate that extends laterally beyond the edge of the proton exchange membrane, wherein the first and second electrodes are positioned to be electrically connected at a location that is beyond the edge of the proton exchange membrane.