Patent ID: 7320838

Claim:
A liquid electrolyte fuel cell system comprising: a liquid electrolyte fuel cell stack; a manifold member facing a surface of said liquid electrolyte fuel cell stack; a dielectric assembly situated between said manifold member and said surface of said liquid electrolyte fuel cell stack, said dielectric assembly including a substantially impermeable dielectric member over which electrolyte is able to flow and a barrier adjacent the dielectric member and having a porosity of less than 50% and greater than 10% so that the barrier is able to measurably absorb and chemically react with the liquid electrolyte flowing on the dielectric member to form solid products which are stable in the liquid electrolyte, said dielectric member including: opposing surfaces adapted to face, respectively, the manifold and the fuel-cell stack; and opposing sides connecting the opposing surfaces; and said barrier including at least one of a first barrier segment embedded in one of the opposing sides of said dielectric member and a second barrier segment embedded in the other of the opposing sides of said dielectric member.