Work

The Effect of a Reduction in the Catalyst Loading on a Mini Passive Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Mini passive direct methanol fuel cells (mpDMFCs) appear to be a promising alternative for powering portable devices, since they use a liquid fuel, have a fast refuelling time, have a high efficiency and have a low environmental impact. However, some issues need to be solved before their commercialization, such as methanol crossover, short lifetime and high costs. The present work studies the effect of reducing the anode and cathode catalyst loading on the performance of a mpDMFC towards a reduction in the system costs and the characterization of the system losses. The undesirable losses that affect the fuel cell performance were identified and quantified using the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique. Accordingly, a novel equivalent electric circuit (EEC) was proposed, accurately reproducing the mini pDMFC. In this work, a maximum power density of 7.07 mW cm−2 was obtained, with a methanol concentration of 5 M, using 2 mg cm−2 Pt-RuB and 4 mg cm−2 PtB. The mpDMFC allowed the cell to work with high methanol concentrations and reduced anode catalyst loadings.

Source: Energies

DOI: 10.3390/en17205174

Authors: C. S. Moreira, A. M. F. R. Pinto, V. B. Oliveira

Institutions: Universidade do Porto, Centro de Estudos de Fenómenos de Transporte

Language: English

Topic: Fuel Cells and Related Materials

Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Affordable and clean energy

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,955