Patent ID: 7316860

Claim:
A polymer electrolyte fuel cell comprising: a hydrogen ion-conductive polymer electrolyte membrane; an anode and a cathode with said electrolyte membrane interposed therebetween; an anode-side conductive separator having a gas flow channel for supply of a fuel gas to said anode; and a cathode-side conductive separator having a gas flow channel for supply of an oxidant gas to said cathode, wherein each of said anode and said cathode comprises at least a catalyst layer in contact with said electrolyte membrane and a gas diffusion layer in contact with said catalyst layer and said separator, and said catalyst layer of said anode and said cathode contains a compound represented by the formula (I): R 1 —O—{(C 2 H 4 O) n —(C 3 H 6 O) m }—R 2 where R 1 and R 2 independently are hydrogen or alkyl groups having not less than 5 and not more than 15 carbon atoms or a hydrogen atom, n and m are integers which satisfy 0≦n≦5, 0≦m≦5 and 1≦n+m≦5, and when neither n nor m is 0, at least one of said ethylene oxide group and at least one of said propylene oxide group are arranged randomly or are not arranged randomly, wherein said catalyst layer of said anode or said cathode further comprises at least one oxide containing at least one metal selected from the group consisting of silicon, titanium, aluminum, zirconium, magnesium and chromium, and said catalyst layer of said anode or said cathode contains said metal oxide in an amount of 1 to 10,000 ppm with respect to a total of carbon particles carrying catalyst particles thereon and a hydrogen ion conductive polymer electrolyte contained in said catalyst layer of said anode or said cathode.