Title of article :
Improvement on performance and efficiency of direct methanol fuel cells using hydrocarbon-based membrane electrode assembly
Author/Authors :
Kim، نويسنده , , Joon-Hee and Yang، نويسنده , , Min-Jee and Park، نويسنده , , Jun-Young، نويسنده ,
Issue Information :
روزنامه با شماره پیاپی سال 2014
Pages :
8
From page :
95
To page :
102
Abstract :
In order to improve the energy efficiency (fuel efficiency and electrical power) of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs), the hydrocarbon (HC) membrane-based membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) are investigated under various operating conditions. The MEAs are then compared with the conventional Nafion-based MEA in terms of their efficiency and performance. The Faradaic efficiency and water transfer coefficient (WTC) are calculated based on mass balance measurements. The Faradaic efficiency of the HC-based MEAs is improved over the Nafion-based MEAs since methanol crossover decreased. The performance of HC-based MEAs shows strong dependency on the anode stoichiometry at high current densities probably because of the limited mass transport of fuel, which is not observed for the Nafion-based MEAs. The Nafion-based MEAs show a WTC of 3, whereas the HC-based MEAs show a very low WTC of −2, indicating the back-diffusion of water from the cathode to the anode. This may have limited mass transport by interrupting proton conduction at high current densities. The performance of HC-based MEAs at high current densities is improved as the fuel stoichiometry increases; High Faradaic efficiency is maintained by decreasing the cathode stoichiometry.
Keywords :
Direct methanol fuel cell , mass balance , Hydrocarbon-based membrane , Water transport coefficient , Faradaic efficiency
Journal title :
Applied Energy
Serial Year :
2014
Journal title :
Applied Energy
Record number :
1607006
Link To Document :
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