Fuel cell containing solid aluminosilicate electrolyte

Claim 1

IN A FUEL CELL COMPRISING A PAIR OF SPACED-APART, POROUS, ELECTRON-CONDUCTIVE ELECTRODES AND AN ELECTROLYTE THEREBETWEEN IN CONTACT WITH EACH ELECTRODE SO AS TO FORM AN INTERFACE THEREWITH, MEANS FOR SUPPLYING A FUEL TO ONE ELECTRODE ON THE SIDE REMOTE FROM THE ELECTROLYTE, AND MEANS FOR SUPPLYING A FUEL CONVERTING AGENT TO THE OTHER ELECTRODE ON THE SIDE REMOTE FROM THE ELECTROLYTE, THE IMPROVEMENT WHEREIN SAID ELECTROLYTE IS THE SOLE ELECTROLYTE AND COMPRISES A SOLID LAYER OF A MOISTENED, IONCONDUCTIVE, POROUS CRYSTALLINE ALUMINOSILICATE, SAID ALUMINOSILICATE BEING A MOLECULAR SIEVE AND HAVING AN INTERNAL SYSTEM OF INTERCONNECTING CHANNELS, SAID ALUMINOSILICATE BEING AT LEAST PARTLY IN THE ACID FORM AND HAVING A SUFFICIENT SILICA CONTENTS AS TO BE PHYSICALLY STABLE IN SAID ACID FORM, SAID LAYER BEING FORMED OF DISCRETE ALUMINOSILICATE PARTICLES, THE THICKNESS OF SAID LAYER BEING IN THE RANGE OF ABOUT 1 TO 1000 MICRONS, SAID LAYER THICKNESS BEING GREAT ENOUGH TO PREVENT ELECTRON TRANSFER BUT THIN ENOUGH TO PROVIDE EFFECTIVE ION TRANSFER THERETHROUGH, SAID LAYER PREVENTING PHYSICAL CONTACT BETWEEN SAID ELECTRODES, AND SAID LAYER AT EACH SAID INTERFACE WITH AN ELECTRODE HAVING CATALYTIC ACTIVITY FOR THE FUEL CELL REACTION OCCURING AT SAID INTERFACE.