Experimental Investigation of a Passive Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) are getting increasing attention as a possible power source for application in the field of power electronics where the energy requirements are relatively small. The major advantage of the DMFC is their high energy density in comparison to the conventional batteries. In this study, the performance of a passive direct methanol fuel cell was investigated under five different methanol concentrations. To further investigate various losses in the fuel cell, impedance spectroscopy was employed to measure ohmic, activation and mass transport losses for all concentrations. It was observed that the performance of the fuel cell improved while the concentration of methanol solutions was closer to its corresponding stoichiometric values. Similarly, the temperature of the fuel cell was found to be higher as methanol concentration increases.