The design and construction of high-performance direct methanol fuel cells. 1. Liquid-feed systems

The construction of a liquid-feed direct methanol fuel cell is described in detail for which the fabrication of active electrodes for both the anode and the cathode compartments has been carefully optimised. Electrodes fabricated by deposition of a catalysed carbon/polytetrafluoroethylene paste onto carbon cloth followed by compaction of the two electrodes onto a Nafion membrane were found initially to give poor results, but by pre-sintering the paste/cloth mix and using a Nafion sol as a flux during the compaction process much better results were obtained. Peak power densities of 0.079 W cm−2 were recorded for a 2 M methanol feed at a current density of 300 mA cm−2 and an operating temperature of 80°C.