Progress and Perspectives in Passive Direct Methanol Fuel Cells Operating with Concentrated Methanol

Naveen K. Shrivastavaa*, Shashikant B. Thombreb**, Kailas L. Wasewar***
* Research Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, India.
** Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, India.
*** Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, India.
Periodicity:February - April'2012
DOI : https://doi.org/10.26634/jfet.7.3.1795

Abstract

A direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) directly converts the chemical energy stored in methanol to electricity. DMFCs have received considerable attention as a new power source for electric portable devices because of their high theoretical energy densities. In particular, passive DMFCs can provide a higher energy density then active one, since they do not need pumps for fuel feeding and blowers for air breathing. However, the actual energy density of the passive DMFCs under development is still far from that expected because of the methanol crossover (MCO) and the high overvoltage at the electrode. Due to the MCO, the passive DMFCs usually show the highest performance at low concentrations of methanol about 5M under passive conditions and that’s why diluted methanol (3M-5M) is used in the fuel cartridge. Filling the fuel reservoir with a low-methanol concentration means that the specific energy of the fuel cell system is low, which not only leads to a short operation time for each fuel charge, but also results in a rapid decrease in the pre-set methanol concentration in the fuel reservoir. Hence, filling in the fuel reservoir with a high-methanol concentration is desired, as it increases the volumetric energy density and discharging time of the DMFC system. This paper focuses on the progress and current status of research in the passive DMFCs fed with concentrated methanol. The paper reviews more than 40 journal and conference papers in this area and will be very useful to the researchers working in this direction.

Keywords

Direct methanol fuel cell, passive, concentrated methanol, review

How to Cite this Article?

Shrivastava, N. K. , Thombre , S. B. and Wasewar, K. L. (2012). Progress And Perspectives In Passive Direct Methanol Fuel Cells Operating With Concentrated Methanol. i-manager’s Journal on Future Engineering and Technology, 7(3), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.26634/jfet.7.3.1795

References

[1]. Abdelkareem, M., Morohashi, N., & Nakagawa, N. (2007). “Factors affecting methanol transport in a passive DMFC employing a porous carbon plate.” Journal of Power Sources (172) 659-665.
[2]. Abdelkareem, M., & Nakagawa, N. (2006). “DMFC employing a porous plate for an efficient operation at high methanol concentrations.” Journal of Power Sources (162) 114-123.
[3]. Abdelkareem, M., & Nakagawa, N. (2007). “Effect of oxygen and methanol supply modes on the performance of a DMFC employing a porous plate.” Journal of Power Sources (165) 685-691.
[4]. Birry, L., Bock, C., Xue, X., McMillan, R., & MacDougall, B. (2009). “DMFC electrode preparation, performance and proton conductivity measurements.” Journal of Applied Electrochemistry (39) 347–360.
[5]. Cai, W., & Li, S. (2011). “Transient behavior analysis of a new designed passive direct methanol fuel cell fed with highly concentrated methanol.” Journal of Power Sources (196) 3781–3789.
[6]. Chan, Y., Zhao, T., Chen, R., & Xu, C. (2008). “A selfregulated passive fuel-feed system for passive direct methanol fuel cells.” Journal of Power Sources (176) 183–190.
[7]. Chen, R., & Zhao, T. (2007). “A novel electrode architecture for passive direct methanol fuel cells.” Electrochemistry Communications (9) 718–724.
[8]. Cho, J., & Kim, J. (2009). “Fabrication and evaluation of membrane electrode assemblies by low temperature decal methods for direct methanol fuel cells.” Journal of Power Sources 187, 378–386.
[9]. Dai, C., Liu, C., Lee, Y., Chang, C., Chao, C., & Cheng, Y. (2008). “Fabrication of novel proton exchange Membrane for DMFC via UV curing.” Journal of Power Sources (177) 262-272.
[10]. Du, C., Zhao, T., & Yang, W. (2007). “Effect of methanol crossover on the cathode behaviour of a DMFC: A half-cell investigation.” Electrochimica Acta (52) 5266–5271.
[11]. Faghri, A., & Guo, Z. (2008). “An innovative passive DMFC technology.” Applied Thermal Engineering (28) 1614–1622.
[12]. Guo, Z., & Faghri, A. (2008). “Development of a 1 W passive DMFC.” International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer (35) 225–239.
[13]. Heinzel, A., & Barragan, V. (1999). “A review of the state-of-the-art of the methanol crossover in direct methanol fuel cells.” Journal of Power Sources (84) 70–74.
[14]. Hirakawa, K., Inoue, M., & Abe, T. (2010). “Methanol oxidation on carbon-supported Pt–Ru and TiO 2 (Pt–Ru/TiO /C) electrocatalyst prepared using polygonal 2 barrel-sputtering method.” Electrochimica Acta (55) 5874-5880.
[15]. Hiromi, C., Inoue, M., Taguchi, A., & Abe, T. (2011). “Optimum Pt and Ru atomic composition of carbonsupported Pt–Ru alloy electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation studied by the polygonal barrel-sputtering method.” Electrochimica Acta (56) 8438-8445.
[16]. Jaafar, J., Ismail, A., Matsuura, T., & Nagai, K. (2011). “Performance of SPEEK based polymer–nanoclay inorganic membrane for DMFC.” Journal of Membrane Science (382) 202-211.
[17]. Kakati, N., Maiti, J., Oh, J., & Yoon, Y. (2011). “Study of methanol oxidation of hydrothermally synthesized PtRuMo on multi wall carbon nanotubes.” Applied Surface Science (257) 8433-8437.
[18]. Kim, Y., Bae, B., Scibioh, M., Cho, E., & Ha, H. (2006). “Behavioural pattern of a monopolar passive direct methanol fuel cell stack.” Journal of Power Sources (157) 253–259.
[19]. Lee, C., Park, C., Lee, S., Jung, B., & Le, Y. (2008). “Passive DMFC system using a proton conductive hydrocarbon Membrane.” Desalination (233) 210-217.
[20]. Li, X., Faghri, A., & Xu, C. (2010). “Structural optimization of the direct methanol fuel cell passively fed with a high-concentration methanol solution.” Journal of Power Sources (195) 8202–8208.
[21]. Li, B., Higgins, D., Zhu, S., Li, H., Wang, H., Ma, J., & Chen, Z. (2012). “Highly active Pt–Ru nanowire network catalysts for the methanol oxidation reaction.” Catalysis Communications (18) 51-54.
[22]. Li, X., Liu, J., Huang, Q., Vogel, W., Akins, D., & Yang, H. (2010). “Effect of heat treatment on stability of gold particle modified carbon supported Pt–Ru anode catalysts for a direct methanol fuel cell.” Electrochimica Acta, (56) 278-284.
[23]. Lin, M., Lo, M., & Mou, C. (2011). “PtRuP nanoparticles supported on mesoporous carbon thin film as highly active anode materials for direct methanol fuel cell.” Catalysis Today (160) 109-115.
[24]. Lin, C., Thangamuthu, R., & Yang, C. (2005). “Protonconducting membranes with high selectivity from phosphotungstic acid-doped poly(vinyl alcohol) for DMFC applications.” Journal of Membrane Science, (353) 23-31.
[25]. Liu, J., & Zhao, T. (2005). “The effect of methanol concentration on the performance of a passive DMFC.” Electrochemistry Communications (7) 288–294.
[26]. Maiti, J., Kakati, N., Lee, S., Jee, S., & Yoon, Y. (2011). “PVA nano composite membrane for DMFC application.” Solid State Ionics (201) 21-26.
[27]. Nakagawa, N., Abdelkareem, M., & Sekimoto, K. (2006). “Control of methanol transport and separation in a DMFC with a porous support.” Journal of Power Sources (160) 105-115.
[28]. Pan, Y. (2006). “Direct methanol fuel cell with concentrated solutions.” Electrochemical and Solid- State Letters (9) A349-A351.
[29]. Park, Y., & Kim, D. (2011). “Design of a MEA with multilayer electrodes for high concentration methanol DMFCs.” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (in press).
[30]. Saarinen, V., Himanen, O., Kallio, T., Sundholm, G., & Kontturi, K. (2007). “A 3D model for the free-breathing direct methanol fuel cell: Methanol crossover aspects and validations with current distribution measurements.” Journal of Power Sources 172 (805–815).
[31]. Seo, S., Lee, C. (2010). “A study on the overall efficiency of direct methanol fuel cell by methanol crossover current.” Applied Energy (87) 2597–2604.
[32]. Tsai, J., Kuo, J., & Chen, C. (2007). “Synthesis and properties of novel HMS-based sulfonated poly (arylene ether sulfone) /silica nano-composite membranes for DMFC applications.” Journal of Power Sources (174) 103- 113.
[33]. Tsujiguchia, T., & Abdelkareem, M. (2010). “Development of a passive direct methanol fuel cell stack for high methanol concentration.” Journal of Power Sources (195) 5975–5979.
[34]. Wei, Y., Matar, S., Shen, L., Zhang, X., Guo, Z., Zhu, H., & Liu, H. (2012). “A novel membrane for DMFC– Na Ti O 2 3 7 Nanotubes/Nafion composite membrane: Performances studies.” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (37) 1857-1864.
[35]. Wu, Q., Zhao, T., Chen, R., & Yang, W. (2010). “A micro fluidic-structured flow field for passive direct methanol fuel cells operating with highly concentrated fuels.” Journal of Micromechanics and Micro Engineering (20) 045014.
[36]. Xu, C., & Faghri, A. (2010). “Mass transport analysis of a passive vapor-feed direct methanol fuel cell.” Journal of Power Sources (195) 7011–7024.
[37]. Yang, T. (2008). “Preliminary study of SPEEK/PVA blend membranes for DMFC applications.” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (33) 6772-6779.
[38]. Yoon, K., Choi, J., Hong, Y., Hong, S., & Lee, S. (2009). “Control of nanoparticle dispersion in SPAES/SiO 2 composite proton conductors and its influence on DMFC membrane performance. ”Electrochemistry Communications (11) 1492-1495.
[39]. Yuan, T., Kang, Y., Chen, J., Du, C., Qiao, Y., Xue, X., Zou, Z., & Yang, H. (2011). “Enhanced performance of a passive direct methanol fuel cell with decreased Nafion aggregate size within the anode catalytic layer.” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (36) 10000- 10005.
[40]. Zhiani, M., Rezaei, B., & Jalili, J. (2010). “Methanol electro-oxidation on Pt/C modified by polyaniline nanofibers for DMFC applications.” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (35) 9298-9305.
[41]. Zhu, S., Wang, S., Gao, Y., Jiang, L., Sun, H., & Sun, G. (2010). “Effect of RuO2 •xH 2 O in anode on the performance of direct methanol fuel cells.” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (35) 11254-11260.
If you have access to this article please login to view the article or kindly login to purchase the article

Purchase Instant Access

Single Article

North Americas,UK,
Middle East,Europe
India Rest of world
USD EUR INR USD-ROW
Online 15 15

Options for accessing this content:
  • If you would like institutional access to this content, please recommend the title to your librarian.
    Library Recommendation Form
  • If you already have i-manager's user account: Login above and proceed to purchase the article.
  • New Users: Please register, then proceed to purchase the article.