• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.27-30
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• 2007

This study considers the feasibility of the concentration control of the methanol solution by oscillating flow in the anode channel of passive type Direct Methanol Fuel Cells(DMFC). DMFC stack performance is largely influenced by the fuel concentration. If the fuel concentration is either lower than 0.5M or more than 2M, its performance deteriorates seriously because of the fuel starvation or the fuel crossover. In this respect the optimization of the fuel concentration is crucially important to maximize the DMFC stack performance. In this work, the effects of oscillating actuation in the fuel supply are studied to control the fuel concentration. Two important nondimensional parameters are introduced, each of which represents either the oscillating frequency or the oscillating amplitude. It is shown how these factors affect the stack performance and the efficiency of the DMFC stack.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.226-231
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• 2002

Power densities produced by the permeation of methanol through membranes were directly measured by inserting the membrane in front of anode in a membrane-electrode-assembly of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The power density was closely related to the loss of power in the DMFC and was strongly affected by temperature. As the cell temperature was increased, the power density resulting from methanol crossover was increased. The increase in methanol crossover had be attributed to diffusion caused or affected by temperature. Methanol crossover a major effect on the performance of a DMFC at a relatively low temperature with $26\%\;loss\;at\;30^{\circ}C$. In order to reduce methanol crossover, a conventional Nafion membrane was modified by the incorporation of Pt or Pd. The reduction in methanol crossover was investigated in these modified membranes by our cell performance measurement. Pt and Pd particles incorporated in the Nafion membranes block methanol pathway and prevent methanol transport through the membranes, which was proved by combining with liquid chromatography.

• 한국전기화학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.07a
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• pp.241-244
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• 2002

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.218-224
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• 2004

We present a miniature Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (micro-DMFC) using platinum sputtered microcolumn electrodes with a limited amount of fuel. We use the microcolumn electrode in order to improve the power density of the micro-DMFC that consists of two electrodes and polymer electrolyte. We also design the built-in fuel chamber in the anode for the portable electronics applications. We design and fabricate both microcolumn and planar electrodes, having an identical projective area of 5mm${\times}$5mm. The diffusion current density of the microcolumn electrode is 1.73 times higher than that of the planar electrode at electrode potential of 1.1V in the half-cell test. The micro-DMFC based on the microcolumn electrodes shows the maximum power of 10.8$\pm$7.54㎼(43.23$\pm$0.16㎼/$\textrm{cm}^2$) at the projective area of 5mm${\times}$5mm, while the planar electrode micro-DMFC shows the maximum power of 0.81$\pm$0.42㎼(3.24$\pm$1.68㎼/$\textrm{cm}^2$) at the same projective area. The micro-DMFC based on the microcolumn electrodes shows 13 times higher power density that the micro-DMFC based on the planar electrodes does.

• Clean Technology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.329-335
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• 2020

Methanol synthesized from renewable hydrogen and captured CO2 has recently attracted great interest as a sustainable energy carrier for large-scale renewable energy storage. In this study, molten carbonate fuel cell's performance was investigated with the direct conversion of methanol into syngas inside the anode chamber of the cell. The internal reforming of methanol may significantly improve system efficiency since the heat generated from the electrochemical reaction can be used directly for the endothermic reforming reaction. The porous Ni-10 wt%Cr anode was sufficient for the methanol steam reforming reaction under the fuel cell operating condition. The direct supply of methanol into the anode chamber resulted in somewhat lower cell performance, especially at high current density. Recycling of the product gas into the anode gas inlet significantly improved the cell performance. The analysis based on material balance revealed that, with increasing current density and gas recycling ratio, the methanol steam reforming reaction rate likewise increased. A methanol conversion more significant than 90% was achieved with gas recycling. The results showed the feasibility of electricity and syngas co-production using the molten carbonate fuel cell. Further research is needed to optimize the fuel cell operating conditions for simultaneous production of electricity and syngas, considering both material and energy balances in the fuel cell.

• 한국전기화학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.06a
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• pp.71-74
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• 2004

• Membrane Journal
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.44-52
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• 2004

This paper concerns the development of a cationic polymeric membranes for direct methanol fuel cell. The crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membranes with poly(acrylic acid-co-maleic acid) (PAM) and hydroquinonesulfonic acid (HQSA) as the crosslinking agents were prepared according to the amount of crosslinking agents. The resulting membranes were characterized in terms of methanol permeability, proton conductivity, water content and ion exchange capacity. The methanol permeability and proton conductivity increased with increasing PAM content up to 9 wt% and then decreased. This trend is considered the effect of the cross linking rather than the introduction of hydrophilic groups. When the HQSA contents were varied, no interesting increases of proton conductivity, water content and ion exchange capacity were found.

• Carbon letters
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.27-30
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• 2000

Performance of direct methanol fuel cell using high porous active carbon as an uncatalysed diffusion layer in anode (composite electrode) has been evaluated. Effects of porous active carbon in anode were investigated by galvanostatic method and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy. The single cell was operated with 2.5 M methanol at temperature of $80-120^{\circ}C$ and showed performance of $210-510\;mA/cm^2$ at 0.4V. By replacing conventional electrode with composite electrode, the increment of $290\;mA/cm^2$ in current density was obtained at $90^{\circ}C$and 0.4V. The potential decay of the single cell was about 14.5% for 20 days operation.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.421-425
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• 2012

Two types of Pt nanoparticle electrocatalysts were composited on Pt nanowires by a combination of an electrospinning method and an impregnation method with NaBH4 as a reducing agent. The structural properties and electrocatalytic activities for methanol electro-oxidation in direct methanol fuel cells were investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and cyclic voltammetry. In particular, SEM, HRTEM, XRD, and XPS results indicate that the metallic Pt nanoparticles with polycrystalline property are uniformly decorated on the electro-spun Pt nanowires. In order to investigate the catalytic activity of the Pt nanoparticles decorated on the electro-spun Pt nanowires, two types of 20 wt% Pt nanoparticles and 40 wt% Pt nanoparticles decorated on the electro-spun Pt nanowires were fabricated. In addition, for comparison, single Pt nanowires were fabricated via an electrospinning method without an impregnation method. As a result, the cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry results demonstrate that the electrode containing 40 wt% Pt nanoparticles exhibits the best catalytic activity for methanol electro-oxidation and the highest electrochemical stability among the single Pt nanowires, the 20 wt% Pt nanoparticles decorated with Pt nanowires, and the 40 wt% Pt nanoparticles decorated with Pt nanowires studied for use in direct methanol fuel cells.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.191-199
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• 2003

Cation exchange polymer electrolyte membrane for the application of direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) was studied. Poly(vinyl alcohol)(PVA) well known as a methanol barrier in pervaporation separation was used fur the base materials and poly(acrylic acid)(PAA) was used for the crosslinking agent with various concentration. Methanol permeability, ion conductivity, ion exchange capacity, water contents and fixed ion concentration of the membranes were investigated to evaluate the performance of the fuel cell electrolyte membrane. Methanol permeability and ion conductivity of the membranes were decreased with increasing PAA content and were increased over 15% of PAA content. These phenomena would be explained with the introduction of hydrophilic crosslinking agent. The membranes with 15% content of PAA showed methanol permeability of $6.49{\times}10^{-8}/cm^2/s,\; 2.85{\times}10^{-7}CM^2/s$ at $25^{\circ}C,\; 50^{\circ}C$ of operating temperatures, respectively. ion conductivities of the membrane were $2.66{\times}10^{-3}\;S/cm,$ $9.16{\times}10^{-3}\;S/cm$ at $25^{\circ}C,\; 50^{\circ}C$ of operating temperatures, respectively. ion exchange capacity, water content and fixed ion concentration of the membrane were revealed 1.32 meq/g membrane,0.25 g $H_2$O/g membrane and 5.25 meq/g $H_2O$, respectively.