Journal
APPLIED ENERGY
Volume 115, Issue -, Pages 95-102Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.10.056
Keywords
Direct methanol fuel cell; Mass balance; Faradaic efficiency; Hydrocarbon-based membrane; Water transport coefficient
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Funding
- New & Renewable Energy project of a Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) grant
- Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy [2011T100200280]
- Fundamental R&D Program for Core Technology of Materials
- Ministry of Knowledge Economy [10037289]
- Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT) [10037289] Funding Source: Korea Institute of Science & Technology Information (KISTI), National Science & Technology Information Service (NTIS)
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In order to improve the energy efficiency (fuel efficiency and electrical power) of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs), the hydrocarbon (HC) membrane-based membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) are investigated under various operating conditions. The MEAs are then compared with the conventional Nafion-based MEA in terms of their efficiency and performance. The Faradaic efficiency and water transfer coefficient (WTC) are calculated based on mass balance measurements. The Faradaic efficiency of the HC-based MEAs is improved over the Nafion-based MEAs since methanol crossover decreased. The performance of HC-based MEAs shows strong dependency on the anode stoichiometry at high current densities probably because of the limited mass transport of fuel, which is not observed for the Nafion-based MEAs. The Nafion-based MEAs show a WTC of 3, whereas the HC-based MEAs show a very low WTC of -2, indicating the back-diffusion of water from the cathode to the anode. This may have limited mass transport by interrupting proton conduction at high current densities. The performance of HC-based MEAs at high current densities is improved as the fuel stoichiometry increases; High Faradaic efficiency is maintained by decreasing the cathode stoichiometry. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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