• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.65-69
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• 2001

The potential change, and the crossover of alcohol in a liquid-feed solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell operating at atmosphere and room temperature was investigated. Alcohol crossover was generated from all the alcohol by using the fuel. The single-cell property of direct methanol fuel cell was higher than that of other alcohol species as $31mW/cm^2$ at 0.23 V at 4.5M of methanol.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.67-95
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• 2024

Direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs) have gained much attention as promising energy conversion devices due to their ability to utilize alcohol as a fuel source. In this regard, Molybdenum-based electrocatalysts (Mo-ECs) have emerged as a substitution for expensive Pt and Ru-based co-catalyst electrode materials in DAFCs, owing to their unique electrochemical properties useful for alcohol oxidation. The catalytic activity of Mo-ECs displays an increase in alcohol oxidation current density by several folds to 1000-2000 mA mg_Pt^-1, compared to commercial Pt and PtRu catalysts of 10-100 mA mg_Pt^-1. In addition, the methanol oxidation peak and onset potential have been significantly reduced by 100-200 mV and 0.5-0.6 V, respectively. The performance of Mo-ECs in both acidic and alkaline media has shown the potential to significantly reduce the Pt loading. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the bifunctional mechanism involved in the oxidation of alcohols and factors affecting the electrocatalytic oxidation of alcohol, such as synthesis method, structural properties, and catalytic support materials. Furthermore, the challenges and prospects of Mo-ECs for DAFCs anode materials are discussed. This in-depth review serves as valuable insight toward enhancing the performance and efficiency of DAFC by employing Mo-ECs.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.459-464
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• 2007

Polymer electrolyte membranes, featuring ionic channels, were prepared from sulfonated dextran/ poly(vinyl alcohol) (sD/PVA) membranes. A stiff sulfated dextran was chosen as the route for ionic transport, since ionic sites are located along the stiff dextran main chain. The sD/PVA blend membranes were annealed and then chemically crosslinked. The characteristics of the crosslinked sD/PVA membranes were investigated to determine their suitability as proton exchange membranes. The proton conductivity was found to increase with increasing amounts of sD inside the membrane, which reached a maximum and then decreased when the sD content exceeded 30 wt%, while the methanol permeability increased with increasing sD content. The good dispersion of sD inside the membrane, which serves as an ionic channels mimic, played a significant role in proton transportation.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.449-455
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• 2006

Ionic cluster mimic, polymer electrolyte membranes were prepared using polymer composites of crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with sulfated-${\beta}$-cyclodextrins (${\beta}-CDSO_3H$) or phosphated-${\beta}$-cyclodextrins (${\beta}-CDPO(OH)_2$). When Nafion, developed for a fuel cell using low temperature, polymer electrolyte membranes, is used in a direct methanol fuel cell, it has a methanol crossover problem. The ionic inverted micellar structure formed by micro-segregation in Nafion, known as ionic cluster, is distorted in methanol aqueous solution, resulting in the significant transport of methanol through the membrane. While the ionic structure formed by the ionic sites in either ${\beta}-CDSO_3H$ or ${\beta}-CDPO(OH)_2$ in this composite membrane is maintained in methanol solution, it is expected to reduce methanol transport. Proton conductivity was found to increase in PVA membranes upon addition of ionized cyclodextrins. Methanol permeability through the PVA composite membrane containing cyclodextrins was lower than that of Nafion. It is thus concluded that the structure and fixation of ionic clusters are significant barriers to methanol crossover in direct methanol fuel cells.

• Advances in Energy Research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.21-31
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• 2014

The use of a microporous membrane along with Au/C catalyst for direct glycerol alkaline fuel cell was investigated. In comparison with Nafion 112, the microporous Celgard 3401 membrane provides a better cell performance due to the lower ionic resistance as confirmed by impedance spectra. The single cell using Au/C as anode catalyst prepared by using PVA protection techniques provided a higher maximum power density than the single cell with commercial PtRu/C at $18.65mW\;cm^{-2}$ The short-term current decay studies show a better stability of Au/C single cell. The higher activity of Au/C over PtRu/C was owing to the lower activation loss of Awe. The magnitude of current decay indicates a low problem of glycerol crossover from anode to cathode side. The similar performance of single cell with and without humudification at cathode points out an adequate transport of water through the microporous membrane.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.152-155
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• 2004

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.11 no.4 s.33
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• pp.69-73
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• 2004

A series of $H_3PO_4$-doped composite membranes based on poly(vinyl alcohol)(PVA) and silica have been prepared by sol-gel process. The proton conductivity, as well as properties of swelling, methanol permeation, was measured in this study. The proton conductivity increased with the molar ratio of $H_3PO_4$ to silica. With the silica content increasing, swelling degree decreased and methanol permeability showed a slight increase. It suggested that the former was mainly determined by hydrophilicity of the membrane, while the latter was dominated by the interconnectivity of matrix. According to the value of on, the optimal conformations of these composite membranes were 60, 70, 80 wt.$\%$ of PS-x in membranes, where x were 1.5, 1.0, and 0.5, respectively. These composite membranes were thermal stability up to $200^{\circ}C$.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.29-32
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• 2004

Reduction of methanol crossover in proton exchange membranes (PEMs) can be achieved by 1) the selection of materials, 2) the morphology control, and 3) the adequate crosslinking [1, 2]. The selection of polymer matrix of PEM for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) is very important because the proton conductivity and methanol permeability are largely dependent upon the properties of polymers.(omitted)

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.141-145
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• 2007

Due to their excellent catalytic activity with respect to methanol oxidation on platinum at low temperature, platinum nanosized catalysts have been a topic of great interest for use in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). Since pure platinum is readily poisoned by CO, a by-product of methanol electrooxidation, and is extremely expensive, a number of efforts to design and characterize Pt-based alloy nanosized catalysts or Pt nanophase-support composites have been attempted in order to reduce or relieve the CO poisoning effect. In this review paper, we summarize these efforts based upon our recent research results. The Pt-based nanocatalysts were designed by chemical synthesis and thin-film technology, and were characterized by a variety of analyses. According to bifunctional mechanism, it was concluded that good alloy formation with $2^{nd}$ metal (e.g., Ru) as well as the metallic state and optimum portion of Ru element in the anode catalyst contribute to an enhanced catalytic activity for methanol electrooxidation. In addition, we found that the modified electronic properties of platinum in Pt alloy electrodes as well as the surface and bulk structure of Pt alloys with a proper composition could be attributed to a higher catalytic activity for methanol electooxdation. Proton conducting contribution of nanosized electrocatalysts should also be considered to be excellent in methanol electrooxidation (Spillover effect). Finally, we confirmed the ensemble effect, which combined all above effects, in Pt-based nanocatalsyts especially, such as PtRuRhNi and $PtRuWO_{3}$, contribute to an enhanced catalytic activity.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.101-109
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• 2003

In the present study, crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membranes were prepared at various crosslinking agent content using sulfosuccinic acid (SSA) containing sulfonic acid group ($SO_3H)$. To reduce methanol permeability, silica was introduced to the membrane using sol-gel process. The hybrid membranes were studied in relation to proton conductivity and methanol permeability. It was found that both these properties were very dependent on the effect of SSA content as a crosslinking agent and as a donor of hydrophilic $SO_3H)$ group. The proton conductivities of these PVA/SSA/Silica membranes are in the range from $10^{-3}\;to\;10^{-2}$S/cm and the methanol permeabilities are in the range from $10^{-8}\;to\;10^{-7}\;cm^2/sec$.