Performance of a direct methanol fuel cell operated at atmospheric pressure

Abstract As a fundamental study of the electrode performance of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), DMFCs with different loadings of anode catalyst were prepared and operated with liquid methanol under various conditions at atmospheric pressure. The DMFC employed Nafion 112 as a solid polymer electrolyte and Pt-Ru/C and Pt/C catalysts for the anode and cathode, respectively. The effects of the Pt-Ru loading for anode and, using the cell with an optimum Pt-Ru loading, the temperature and feed rates of the oxidant gas on the cell performance were investigated. The cell performance was analyzed based on the measurement of the current–voltage characteristics and electrode impedance. The performance increased with the increasing Pt-Ru loading up to a certain amount. Over this value, the current density at a low cell voltage decreased with its increase resulting in the reduction of the power density. An unstable and temporal decline in the performance was observed near the vaporization temperature of the feeding liquid and at low feed rate of oxidant gas. It was considered that the mass transfer of the materials related to the electrode reaction was limiting at these conditions. The relatively large power density of 0.12 W/cm2 was obtained with the optimum Pt-Ru loadings at 363 K under atmospheric pressure.

[1]  G. A. Deluga,et al.  A Pt−Ru/Graphitic Carbon Nanofiber Nanocomposite Exhibiting High Relative Performance as a Direct-Methanol Fuel Cell Anode Catalyst , 2001 .

[2]  A. K. Shukla,et al.  The design and construction of high-performance direct methanol fuel cells. 1. Liquid-feed systems , 1997 .

[3]  W. M. Taama,et al.  One-dimensional thermal model for direct methanol fuel cell stacks. Part II. Model based parametric analysis and predicted temperature profiles , 1999 .

[4]  G. Lindbergh,et al.  The influence of electrode morphology on the performance of a DMFC anode , 2002 .

[5]  Yasuo Nakajima,et al.  STUDY OF PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT IN A DIRECT METHANOL FUEL CELL. , 2002 .

[6]  W. M. Taama,et al.  The impact of mass transport and methanol crossover on the direct methanol fuel cell , 1999 .

[7]  Peter Urban,et al.  Impedance studies on direct methanol fuel cell anodes , 1999 .

[8]  S. Hayase,et al.  Targeting improved DMFC performance , 2002 .

[9]  Peter Urban,et al.  Characterization of direct methanol fuel cells by ac impedance spectroscopy , 1998 .

[10]  Robert F. Savinell,et al.  Real‐Time Mass Spectrometric Study of the Methanol Crossover in a Direct Methanol Fuel Cell , 1996 .

[11]  V. Antonucci,et al.  Optimization of operating parameters of a direct methanol fuel cell and physico-chemical investigation of catalyst–electrolyte interface , 1998 .

[12]  Keith Scott,et al.  Electrochemical and gas evolution characteristics of direct methanol fuel cells with stainless steel mesh flow beds , 2001 .

[13]  S. J. Pearton,et al.  Extremely High Etch Rates of In‐Based III‐V Semiconductors in BCl3 / N 2 Based Plasma , 1996 .

[14]  Claude Lamy,et al.  Direct Methanol Fuel Cells: From a Twentieth Century Electrochemist’s Dream to a Twenty-first Century Emerging Technology , 2002 .

[15]  S. Srinivasan,et al.  Composite Nafion/Zirconium Phosphate Membranes for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Operation at High Temperature , 2001 .

[16]  Yasuo Nakajima,et al.  Influence of cell pressure and amount of electrode catalyst in MEA on methanol crossover of direct methanol fuel cell , 2002 .

[17]  Shimshon Gottesfeld,et al.  Methanol transport through Nafion membranes : Electro-osmotic drag effects on potential step measurements , 2000 .