Patent ID: 7803476

Claim:
An electrically conductive element for use in a fuel cell comprising: a conductive metal substrate having a major surface with surface oxides formed thereon; a layer of conductive non-metallic porous media having a surface facing said major surface of said metal substrate, wherein said layer defines pores forming flow paths therethrough, said pores including internal pores and external pores; and one or more metallized regions on said surface of said layer, each said metallized region containing an electrically conductive material and having an average thickness equal to about the diameter of one atom of the material, wherein said electrically conductive material is deposited on interior surfaces of at least a portion of at least one of said internal pores and external pores in said one or more metallized regions and extends into said layer, and wherein said major surface of said conductive metal substrate is arranged in contact with said one or more metallized regions to provide an electrically conductive path from said layer through said one or more metallized regions and said surface oxides to said metal substrate.