Patent attributes
A monolithic fuel cell is described which is made up of fuel passages and oxidizer passages, in the form of a monolithic block. The monolith is made from triplex layers of anode-electrolyte-cathode and a multifunctional substrate that provides interconnects between triplex layers, provides for gas diffusion and allows waste products to flow out through it to be extracted. Additionally, it provides current take-off where desired. The monolith may be a cube, a rectangular prism or a solid cylinder, made of layers of different materials with different design patterns. Also detailed is a low cost, high-speed fabrication method for manufacture of a monolithic block of fuel cells, using computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing to send instructions to a process management controller. The controller selects materials and defines their preparation and then sends these materials to robotic fabrication stations, which are also programmed by the controller. In this manner, sequential layers of material are applied to a substrate in a continuous process until a complete three-dimensional monolithic fuel cell is formed.
