A study of a vapor feed DMFC using PBI loaded with phosphoric acid is reported. The anode catalyst was a Pt-Ru alloy and the cathode Pt, both supported on carbon black. Performance of the fuel cell with low methanol concentrations is reported and in situ measurements of anode and cathode potentials were used to diagnose the fuel cell performance. The influence of temperature, methanol feed concentration, and oxygen pressure are reported. The fuel cell performance was quite low with peak power densities of 12 to 16 mW cm−2 obtained at a temperature of 175 °C, although open circuit potentials of up to 800 mV were achieved. The poor performance was attributed to significant anode polarization due to the presence of phosphate in the catalyst layer and to the influence of methanol crossover on the cathode performance. The performance of the DMFC was found to fall steadily with time over seven days of operation which was associated with an increased cell resistance as measured by ac impedance.
Issue Section:
Research Papers
Keywords:
fuel cell,
methanol,
PBI,
phosphoric acid,
PEMFC,
direct methanol fuel cells,
electrochemical electrodes,
platinum alloys,
ruthenium alloys
Topics:
Direct methanol fuel cells,
Methanol,
Temperature,
Anodes,
Oxidation,
Oxygen,
Membranes,
Catalysts
References
1.
Pivovar
, B. S.
, Wang
, Y. X.
, and Cussler
, E. L.
, 1999, “Pervaporation Membranes in Direct Methanol Fuel Cells
,” J. Membr. Sci.
, 154
(2
), pp. 155
–162
.2.
Jones
, D. J.
, and Roziere
, J.
, 2001, “Recent Advances in the Functionalisation of Polybenzimidazole and Polyetherketone for Fuel Cell Applications
,” J. Membr. Sci.
, 185
(1
), pp. 41
–58
.3.
Wang
, J.
, Wasmus
, T. S.
, and Savinell
, R. F.
, 1996, “Real-Time Mass Spectrometric Study of the Methanol Crossover in a Direct Methanol Fuel Cell
,” J. Electrochem. Soc.
, 143
(4
), pp. 1233
–1239
.4.
Weng
, D.
, Wainright
, J. S.
, Landau
, U.
, and Savinell
, R. F.
, 1996, “Electro-osmotic Drag Coefficient of Water and Methanol in Polymer Electrolytes at Elevated Temperatures
,” J. Electrochem. Soc.
, 143
(4
), pp. 1260
–1263
.5.
Wainright
, J. S.
, Wang
, J. T.
, Weng
, D.
, Savinell
, R. F.
, and Litt
, M.
, 1995, “Acid-Doped Polybenzimidazoles—A New Polymer Electrolyte
,” J. Electrochem. Soc.
, 142
(7
), pp. L121
–L123
.6.
Wainright
, J. S.
, Wang
, J. T.
, and Savinell
, R. F.
, 1996, “Direct Methanol Fuel Cells Using Acid Doped Polybenzimidazole as a Polymer Electrolyte
,” Energy Conversion Engineering Conference (IECEC) Proceedings of the 31st Intersociety
, IEEE, New York
, pp. 1107
–1111
.7.
Wang
, J. T.
, Savinell
, R. F.
, Wainright
, J.
, Litt
, M.
, and Yu
, H.
, 1996, “A H2/O2 Fuel Cell Using Acid Doped Polybenzimidazole as Polymer Electrolyte
,” Electrochim. Acta
, 41
(2
), pp. 193
–197
.8.
Zecevic
, S. K.
, Wainright
, J. S.
, Litt
, M. H.
, Gojkovic
, S. L.
, and Savinell
, R. F.
, 1997, “Kinetics of O2 Reduction on a Pt Electrode Covered With a Thin Film of Solid Polymer Electrolyte
,” J. Electrochem. Soc.
, 144
(9
), pp. 2973
–2982
.9.
Pu
, H. T.
, Liu
, Q. Z.
, and Liu
, G. H.
, 2004, “Methanol Permeation and Proton Conductivity of Acid-Doped Poly (N-ethylbenzimidazole) and Poly(N-methylbenzimidazole)
,” J. Membr. Sci.
, 241
(2
), pp. 169
–175
.10.
Gaowen
, Z.
, and Zhentao
, Z.
, 2005, “Organic/Inorganic Composite Membranes for Application in DMFC
,” J. Membr. Sci.
, 261
(1–2
), pp. 107
–113
.11.
Gil
, M.
, Ji
, X.
, Li
, X.
, Na
, H.
, Hampsey
, J. E.
, and Lu
, Y.
, 2004, “Direct Synthesis of Sulfonated Aromatic Poly(ether ether ketone) Proton Exchange Membranes for Fuel Cell Applications
,” J. Membr. Sci.
, 234
(1–2
), pp. 75
–81
.12.
Scott
, K.
, and Shukla
, A. K.
, 2007, “Direct Methanol Fuel Cells: Fundamentals, Problems and Perspectives
,” Modern Aspects of Electrochemisty
, R. E.
White
, ed., Springer
, New York
, Vol. 40
.13.
Grune
, H.
, Kruftand
, G.
, and Waidaus
, M.
, 1994, Fuel Cell
Seminar, November 28 - December 1, San Diego
, CA
, pp. 474
–478
.14.
Surampudi
, S.
, Narayanan
, S. R.
, Vamos
, E.
, Frank
, H.
, Halpert
, G.
, LaConti
, A.
, Kosek
, J.
, Prakash
, G. K. S.
, and Olah
, G. A.
, 1994, “Advances in Direct Oxidation Methanol Fuel Cells
,” J. Power Sources
, 47
(3
), pp. 377
–385
.15.
Lim
, C.
, Allen
, R. G.
, and Scott
, K.
, 2006, “Effect of Dispersion Methods of an Unsupported Pt-Ru Black Anode Catalyst on the Power Performance of a Direct Methanol Fuel Cell
,” J. Power Sources
, 161
(1
), pp. 11
–18
.16.
Allen
, R. G.
, Lim
, C.
, Yang
, L. X.
, Scott
, K.
, and Roy
, S.
, 2005, “Novel Anode Structure for the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell
,” J. Power Sources
, 143
(1–2
), pp. 142
–149
.17.
Shen
, M.
, and Scott
, K.
, 2005, “Power Loss and Its Effect on Fuel Cell Performance
,” J. Power Sources
, 148
, pp. 24
–31
.18.
Shukla
, A. K.
, Jackson
, C. L.
, Scott
, K.
, and Raman
, R. K.
, 2002, “An Improved-Performance Liquid-Feed Solid-Polymer-Electrolyte Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Operating at Near-Ambient Conditions
,” Electrochim. Acta
, 47
(21
), pp. 3401
–3407
.19.
Scott
, K.
, Taama
, W. M.
, Argyropoulos
, P.
, and Sundmacher
, K.
, 1999, “The Impact of Mass Transport and Methanol Crossover on the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell
,” J. Power Sources
, 83
(1–2
), pp. 204
–216
.20.
Wainright
, J. S.
, Wang
, J. T.
, Savinell
, R. F.
, Litt
, M.
, Moaddel
, H.
, and Rogers
, C.
, 1994, “Acid Doped Polybenzimidazoles, A New Polymer Electrolyte
,” Proceedings of the Electrochemical Society
, 94
, pp. 255
–264
.21.
Wang
, J. T.
, Wainright
, J. S.
, Savinell
, R. F.
, and Litt
, M.
, 1996, “A Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Using Acid-Doped Polybenzimidazole as Polymer Electrolyte
,” J. Appl. Electrochem.
, 26
(7
), pp. 751
–756
.22.
Wang
, J. T.
, Lin
, W. F.
, Weber
, M.
, Wasmus
, S.
, and Savinell
, R. F.
, 1998, “Trimethoxymethane as an Alternative Fuel for a Direct Oxidation PBI Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell
,” Electrochim. Acta
, 43
(24
), pp. 3821
–3828
.23.
Lobato
, J.
, Canizares
, P.
, Rodrigo
, M. A.
, Linares
, J. J.
, and Lopez-Vizcaino
, R.
, 2008, “Performance of a Vapor-Fed Polybenzimidazole (PBI)-Based Direct Methanol Fuel Cell
,” Energy Fuels
, 22
(5
), pp. 3335
–3345
.24.
Andrew
, M. R.
, McNicol
, B. D.
, Short
, R. T.
, and Drury
, J. S.
, 1997, “Electrolytes for Methanol-Air Fuel Cells. I. The Performance of Methanol Electro-oxidation Catalysts in Sulphuric Acid and Phosphoric Acid Electrolytes
,” J. Appl. Electrochem.
, 7
(2
), pp. 153
–160
.25.
McNicol
, B. D.
, 1981, “Electrocatalytic Problems Associated With the Development of Direct Methanol-Air Fuel Cells
,” Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry
, 118
, 71
–87
.26.
He
, C.
, Kunz
, H. R.
, and Fenton
, J. M.
, 1997, “Evaluation of Platinum-Based Catalysts for Methanol Electro-oxidation in Phosphoric Acid Electrolyte
,” J. Electrochem. Soc.
, 144
(3
), pp. 970
–979
.27.
Watanabe
, M.
, Genjima
, Y.
, and Turumib
, K.
, 1997, “Direct Methanol Oxidation on Platinum Electrodes With Ruthenium Adatoms in Hot Phosphoric Acid
,” Journal of the Electrochemical Society
, 144
(2
), pp. 423
–428
.28.
Mamlouk
, M.
, Sousa
, T.
, and Scott
, K.
, 2011, “A High Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Model for Reformate Gas
,” Int. J. Electrochem.
, 2011
, p. 18
.29.
Korsgaard
, A.
, Refshauge
, R. R.
, Nielsen
, M. P.
, Bang
, M.
, and Kær
, S. K.
, 2006, “Experimental Characterization and Modeling of Commercial Polybenzimidazole-Based MEA Performance
,” J. Power Sources
, 162
(1
), pp. 239
–245
.30.
Scott
, K.
, and Mamlouk
, M.
, 2011, “A Study of Oxygen Reduction on Carbon Supported Platinum Electrodes at a PBI/Phosphoric acid Interface
,” Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part A, J. Power Energy
, 225
, pp. 161
–174
.31.
Ayad
, A.
, Bouet
, J.
, and Fauvarque
, J. F.
, 2005, “Comparative Study of Protonic Conducting Polymers Incorporated in the Oxygen Electrode of the PEMFC
,” J. Power Sources
, 149
, pp. 66
–71
.32.
Mamlouk
, M.
, and Scott
, J. F.
, 2010, “The Effect of Electrode Parameters on Performance of a Phosphoric Acid-Doped PBI Membrane Fuel Cell
,” Int. J. Hydrogen Energy
, 35
(2
), pp. 784
–793
.33.
Gil
, M.
, Ji
, X. L.
, Li
, X. F.
, Na
, H.
, Hampsey
, J. E.
, and Lu
, Y. F.
, 2004, “Direct Synthesis of Sulfonated Aromatic Poly(ether ether ketone) Proton Exchange Membranes for Fuel Cell Applications
,” J. Membr. Sci.
, 234
(1–2
), pp. 75
–81
.Copyright © 2011
by American Society of Mechanical Engineers
You do not currently have access to this content.
