Composite membranes have been synthesized from biopolymer chitosan (CS) and nanosized montmorillonite (MMT) filler crosslinked with sulfosuccinic acid (SSA) as an alternative membrane electrolyte for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) application. All prepared were obtained by solution casting technique. Prepared systematically characterized in terms of water uptake, permeability performance para...

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...

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are emerging material class for the past few years due to its tailorability characteristics for various applications. However, the research and development (R&D) of MOFs is still scarce for fuel cell system. This may be due to the several difficulties faced in selecting a good MOFs-based electrolyte, which consequently affects both proton conduction and methanol ...

Proton exchange membranes (PEM) for a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) have main drawbacks which are methanol permeability, reduced proton conductivity and the cost of the membrane. This paper reviews different polymeric materials such as fluorinated, non-fluorinated, acid-base complex, and composite membranes for DMFC. Currently, nonfluorinated membranes gain a lot of atte...

In a direct methanol fuel cell system (DMFC), one of the drawbacks is crossover. Methanol from anode passes through membrane and enters cathode, causing mixed potential in cell. Only Pt-based catalysts are capable operating as cathode for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) harsh acidic condition DMFC. However, it causes due to high activity toward oxidation Pt. To overcome this situation, developi...

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 ...

Owing to the serious crossover of methanol from the anode to the cathode through the polymer electrolyte membrane, direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) usually use dilute methanol solutions as fuel. However, the use of high-concentration methanol is highly demanded to improve the energy density of a DMFC system. Instead of the conventional strategies (for example, improving the fuel-feed system, ...

Single-wall and multiwall carbon nanotubes are employed as carbon supports in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC). The morphology and electrochemical activity of single-wall and multiwall carbon nanotubes obtained from different sources have been examined to probe the influence of carbon support on the overall performance of DMFC. The improved activity of the Pt-Ru catalyst dispersed on carbon na...

Polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) applications were prepared from a graft-copolymer (PSF-g-PSSA) consisting of a polysulfone (PSF) main chain and poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PSSA) side chains with various average distances between side chains (Lav) and side chain lengths (Lsc). The polymers were synthesized by grafting ethyl p-styrenesulfonate (EtSS) on ...