Material aspects of the liquid feed direct methanol fuel cell

A study of a small scale Liquid Feed Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (LFDMFC), based on solid polymer electrolyte membrane, is reported. Two flow cell designs, one with a parallel flow channel arrangement and the other with a spot design of flow bed, are used. The structure of the DMFC comprises a composite of two porous electrocatalytic electrodes; Pt–Ru–carbon catalyst anode and Pt–carbon catalyst cathode, on either side of a solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) membrane. The performance of three Pt–Ru catalysts is compared. The influence of the degree of Teflon loading on the electrode structure is also reported. The effect of the following parameters: cell temperature, oxygen gas or air pressure, methanol liquid flow rate and methanol concentration on the power performance is described.