PtRu/Ti anodes with varying Pt ratio Ru ratio were prepared by electrodeposition of a thin PtRu catalyst layer onto Ti mesh for a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The morphology and structure of the catalyst layers were analyzed by SEM, EDX and XRD. The catalyst coating layer shows an alloy character. The relative activities of the PtRu/Ti electrodes were assessed and compared in half cell and...

The performance of direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is closely related to its operating conditions, and there exists a specific combination of operating conditions at which the DMFC output maximum power to the driven load. Working at maximum power point (MPP) can lower the methanol crossover and ancillary power consumption so as to improve the global efficiency of the system. The fuzzy controll...

In the past few years, the interest in the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) has increased dramatically, as it has very advantageous features as a mobile source of electrical energy. Its fuel methanol is easy to store and to handle and has a high energy density. These advantages over hydrogen-fed PEMFCs (polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells) have resulted in first commercial products (e.g. fr...

Polymer electrolyte membranes (PEM) and Pt-based catalysts are two crucial components which determine the properties and price of fuel cells. Even though, PEM faces problem of fuel crossover in liquid fuel cells such as direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) and direct borohydride fuel cell (DBFC), which lowers power output greatly. Here, we report a DBFC in which a polymer fiber membrane (PFM) was u...

A dual-chamber anode structure is proposed in order to solve two performance problems of the conventional passive micro direct methanol fuel cell (μ-DMFC). One of the problems is the unstable performance during long time discharge. The second problem is the short operating time. In this structure, low concentration chamber is filled with methanol solution with appropriate concentration for the ...

1. Abstract Pt-Ru/C catalyst has been applied extensively in direct methanol fuel cells for methanol electrochemical oxidation. In this study, a model for electrochemical kinetics of methanol has been developed for electrocatalyst Pt-Ru/C. The single cell performance of DMFC and AC impedance analysis were measured. The methanol crossover problem still remains a challenge for the applications of...

In order to determine the working conditions for direct methanol fuel cell and to gain higher performances, two one-dimensional, steady-state numerical models have been presented to evaluate the performance of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) using Matlab. Genetic algorithm and direct Monte Carlo algorithm have been employed to determine the optimization operation conditions of the DMFC. The ...

Aalto University, P.O. Box 11000, FI-00076 Aalto www.aalto.fi Author Petri Kanninen Name of the doctoral dissertation Characterization of nanostructured catalysts and silicon microstructures in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells Publisher School of Chemical Technology Unit Department of Chemistry Series Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS 76/2014 Field of research Ph...

3.8.2. Temperature Distribution Measurements 4749 3.8.3. Two-Phase Visualization 4750 3.8.4. Experimental Validation 4751 3.9. Modeling the Catalyst Layer at Pore Level 4751 3.10. Summary and Outlook 4752 4. Direct Methanol Fuel Cells 4753 4.1. Technical Challenges 4754 4.1.1. Methanol Oxidation Kinetics 4754 4.1.2. Methanol Crossover 4755 4.1.3. Water Management 4755 4.1.4. Heat Management 475...