Patent ID: 8921000

Claim:
A fuel cell comprising: a membrane electrode assembly having electrode layers formed on both surfaces of an electrolyte membrane; a plurality of gas flow channels arranged and arrayed on at least one surface of the membrane electrode assembly to let a reactive gas flow through the membrane electrode assembly from a supply side of the reactive gas to a recovery side of the reactive gas; a supply passage configured to supply the reactive gas to the plurality of gas flow channels; and a recovery passage configured to recover the reactive gas from the plurality of gas flow channels, wherein the membrane electrode assembly includes a diffusion layer configured to diffuse the reactive gas, which flows through the plurality of gas flow channels, over the electrode layer, and wherein the plurality of gas flow channels include: a first gas flow channel provided as an unblocked gas flow channel that connects the supply passage with the recovery passage in substantially fixed channel cross-section area; and a second gas flow channel provided as a gas flow channel having the supply passage side blocked and connecting to the recovery passage.