Development and performance analysis of a metallic passive micro-direct methanol fuel cell for portable applications

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2015

Authors

D. S. Falcão (Author) FEUP; J. P. Pereira (Author) Other; C. M. Rangel (Author) Other; A. M. F. R. Pinto (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

Vol. 40 No. 15

Pages: 5408-5415

ISSN: 0360-3199

Publisher: Elsevier

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 18 Citations

Scopus - 27 Citations

INSPEC

Scientific classification

FOS: Engineering and technology > Chemical engineering

Associated Projects

MICROPILHAS - MICROPILHAS - Miniaturização de Células de Combustível de Metanol Directo: design, modelação e optimização

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00G-3VK

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2015.01.034

Abstract (EN): Due to the growing interest on miniaturization for application on portable devices, the Micro Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (Micro-DMFC) proved to have great benefits. Passive fuel cells have extra advantages leading to less complex and cheaper systems. In the present work, an experimental study on the performance of a passive Micro-DMFC with an active area of 2.25 cm(2) working at ambient conditions is described. Several commercially available materials for Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) are tested including materials with low platinum content to achieve lower prices. The effect of methanol concentration on the cell performance is evaluated. The performance is compared with the one obtained using an active Micro-DMFC with the same active area. A optimized design is 'proposed corresponding to a maximum power density, 19.2 mW/cm(2), obtained using a Nafion 117 membrane, 3 mg/cm(2) Pt Ru and 0.5 mg/cm2 Pt as, respectively, anode and cathode catalyst loading, carbon paper as anode gas diffusion layer (GDL) and Sigracet carbon paper with micro porous layer (MPL) as cathode GDL at methanol feed concentration of 3 M. This result higher than the optimal power obtained with the active Micro-DMFC clearly demonstrates that membranes with low catalyst content could be used in passive MicroDMFC with success. This is an important result bearing in mind the use of micro-DMFCs in portable applications. Copyright

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 8