Fuel cell electrode interconnect contact material encapsulation and method

A fuel cell stack (10) includes a plurality of fuel cell cassettes (12) each including a fuel cell (14) with an anode (20) and a cathode (18). Each fuel cell cassette (12) also includes an electrode interconnect (28, 30) adjacent to the anode (20) or the cathode (18) for providing electrical communication between an adjacent fuel cell cassette (12) and the anode (20) or the cathode (18). The interconnect (28, 30) includes a plurality of electrode interconnect protrusions defining a flow passage along the anode (20) or the cathode (18) for communicating oxidant or fuel to the anode (20) or the cathode (18). An electrically conductive material is disposed between at least one of the electrode interconnect protrusions and the anode (20) or the cathode (18) in order to provide a stable electrical contact between the electrode interconnect (28, 30) and the anode (20) or cathode (18). An encapsulating arrangement segregates the electrically conductive material from the flow passage thereby, preventing volatilization of the electrically conductive material in use of the fuel cell stack (10).