Direct methanol fuel cells: determination of fuel crossover in a polymer electrolyte membrane

The crossover of methanol from anode to cathode is one of the important factors that affects the performance of direct methanol fuel cells that are being developed for portable power and transportation applications. We report an effective method for the determination of methanol permeability through simple electrochemical methods. The method has been applied to find the permeability factors for various methanol concentrations. An optimum concentration of methanol for operation of fuel cells using methanol as the fuel has also been determined based on the above results.

[1]  M. Bartolozzi,et al.  A Comparative Investigation of Proton and Methanol Transport in Fluorinated Ionomeric Membranes , 2000 .

[2]  N. A. Mayorova,et al.  Methanol electrooxidation on platinum mesh electrodes bonded to solid polymer electrolytes , 1998 .

[3]  V. Tricoli.  Proton and Methanol Transport in Poly(perfluorosulfonate) Membranes Containing Cs + and H + Cations , 1998 .

[4]  René A. J. Janssen,et al.  Electrochemical Society Proceedings , 2000 .

[5]  W. LaCourse,et al.  Pulsed amperometric detection of aliphatic alcohols in liquid chromatography , 1991 .

[6]  Dennis C. Johnson,et al.  Amperometric detection of simple alcohols in aqueous solutions by application of a triple-pulse potential waveform at platinum electrodes , 1981 .

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

[8]  Keith Scott,et al.  The degree and effect of methanol crossover in the direct methanol fuel cell , 1998 .

[9]  Yu Morimoto,et al.  Comparison of methanol oxidations on Pt, Pt|Ru and Pt|Sn electrodes , 1998 .

[10]  Hubert A. Gasteiger,et al.  Methanol electrooxidation on well-characterized Pt-Ru alloys , 1993 .

[11]  K. Potje-Kamloth,et al.  Comparative study of methanol crossover across electropolymerized and commercial proton exchange membrane electrolytes for the acid direct methanol fuel cell , 1998 .

[12]  John Crank,et al.  Diffusion in polymers , 1968 .

[13]  Signe Kjelstrup,et al.  Ion and water transport characteristics of Nafion membranes as electrolytes , 1998 .

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