Porous electronic current collector bodies for electrochemical cell configurations

Claim 1

A high-temperature solid electrolyte electrochemical cell configuration, comprising a plurality of elongated electrochemical cells, the cells having inner electrodes and outer electrodes, with solid electrolyte therebetween and being elecronically connected by porous, electronically conductive, fibrous strips, the improvement characterized in that the fibrous strips are from 80% to 95% porous, and comprise flexible, electronically conductive fibers selected from the group consisting of nickel fibers and cobalt fibers bonded together and coated with a refractory oxide, where the fibrous strips electronically connect the inner electrode of one cell to the outer electrode of the next adjacent cell through interconnection material disposed on the inner electrodes, and also electronically connect the outer electrode of one cell to the outer electrode of the next adjacent cell, and where the refractory oxide is effective to prevent additional bonding of fibers during electrochemical cell operation at high temperatures.