Patent ID: 8877393

Claim:
A fuel cell, comprising: a power generation layer including an electrolyte membrane, and an anode and a cathode provided on respective surfaces of the electrolyte membrane; a fuel gas flow path layer located on a side of the anode of the power generation layer to supply a fuel gas to the anode while flowing the fuel gas along a flow direction of the fuel gas approximately orthogonal to a stacking direction in which respective layers of the fuel cell are stacked; an oxidizing gas flow path layer located on a side of the cathode of the power generation layer to supply an oxidizing gas to the cathode while flowing the oxidizing gas along a flow direction of the oxidizing gas opposed to the flow direction of the fuel gas; and an anode diffusion layer located between the anode and the fuel gas flow path layer, wherein a power generation area of the fuel cell, in which electric power is generated, has an upstream region including a most upstream position along the flow direction of the fuel gas and a downstream region including a most downstream position along the flow direction of the fuel gas, and wherein a midstream region, which is a remaining region of the power generation area other than the upstream region and the downstream region, has higher water vapor transfer resistance between the anode side and the cathode side than the upstream region and the downstream region, and wherein a blocking portion, in which a gas flow path is blocked, is provided in the fuel gas flow path layer in the upstream region and in the downstream region, such that the upstream region and the downstream region have higher gas flow resistance than the midstream region.