直接甲醇燃料电池功率可提高50％

麻省理工（MIT）的科学家最近开发出一种新技术，利用该项技术可以将直接甲醇燃料电池（DMFC）的输出功率提高50％甚至更多。     

直接甲醇燃料电池中聚苯胺载Pt电极的制备与性能测定

利用循环伏安方法电聚合导电高分子聚苯胺,应用到直接甲醇燃料电池(DMFC)中制备聚苯胺载Pt电极。电极的制备分两个步骤,首先电聚合载体聚苯胺,然后沉积催化剂Pt。聚苯胺载Pt电极的制备,提高了Pt的分散度,增加了Pt在电催化体系中的利用率。聚苯胺载铂电极(Pt/PANI/C)与直接碳载铂电极(Pt/C)通过比较甲醇的电催化氧化活性可知,Pt/PANI/C电极催化氧化甲醇的最大电流为50.7mA.cm-2,为Pt/C电极最大氧化电流7.6mA.cm-2的6.7倍。扫描电镜表征Pt/PANI/C电极上的铂颗粒大小为0.4μm左右。     

直接甲醇燃料电池所用催化剂和膜电极工艺研究进展

直接甲醇燃料电池由于其高效的能量转化效率、清洁环保、体积小、重量轻、可低温快速启动等优点,在未来将得到广泛应用.介绍了直接甲醇燃料电池工作原理及核心部件的相关研究进展,包括阳极催化剂、阴极催化剂和膜电极工艺.阐述了电极催化剂的工作原理,并按负载的活性金属组分的不同,对电极催化剂进行分类总结.阳极贵金属基催化剂中,Pt分别与Ru、Co、Fe、Ni的合金催化剂表现出比纯Pt催化剂更优越的性能.阴极贵金属基催化剂中,Pt-Fe体系催化效果较好.研究分析表明,贵金属基合金纳米结构均匀分散与载体上,产生更高的电化学活性表面积和更低的电荷转移电阻,催化剂稳定性与催化活性较大提高.非贵金属基催化剂则是以氧化物及过渡金属为代表取代Pt,展现较好性能,但还存在催化效率不足的问题.膜电极工艺流程较为成熟固定,活化工艺及质子交换膜有待深入研究.     

基于ROLS算法的RBF神经网络燃料电池电特性建模

提出了一种基于ROLS算法的RBF神经网络辨识建立直接甲醇燃料电池(DMFC)电特性模型的新方法。以电池的工作温度为输入量,电池的电压／电流密度为输出量,利用1200组实验数据作为训练和测试样本,建立了在不同工作温度下,电池的电压／电流密度动态响应模型,仿真结果表明采用RBF神经网络辨识建模的方法是有效的,建立的模型精度较高。     

直接液体甲醇燃料电池流场组织行为研究(Ⅰ) 传统对称流道电池的模型建立

建立了直接甲醇燃料电池垂直流道方向电池单元的二维稳态数学模型,考虑了电化学动力学、多组分传递和甲醇渗透影响.计算了流道布置密度、扩散层、催化层和质子交换膜等组件尺度对电池内物料传质特性、化学反应组织和电池输出性能的影响.研究发现,增加流道布置密度、增加催化层厚度能有效提高电极反应均匀性和电池性能.其中催化层和质子膜的厚度影响最为显著,在该文研究范围内分别可提高电池的平均电流密度131.0%和17.8%.而扩散层和质子交换膜厚度都存在一个最佳值,需要与以上流场板设计尺寸和膜电极尺寸匹配.     

回转式空气预热器蓄热元件传热特性实验研究

回转式空气预热器热力性能主要取决于蓄热元件,在蓄热元件传热特性试验台上,通过分段均匀电加热蓄热元件模拟其在锅炉烟道中的温度并控制其在不同的温度水平上,对不同蓄热元件板形在不同壁温、不同雷诺数下传热特性进行了比较试验,并对结果做出了简要分析.     

松下开发出小型高功率直接甲醇燃料电池

日本松下电器产业公司10月20日宣布，该公司开发出一款单位体积输出功率是以往产品两倍的直接甲醇燃料电池，适合笔记本电脑、手机等便携设备使用。     

直接甲醇燃料电池粗(火用)传递及能量利用特性

建立了直接甲醇燃料电池(DMFC)炯分析的稳态模型,模型中考虑了甲醇串流以及各种不可逆损失引起的过电位的影响.在模型基础上推导出DMFC的炯效率表达式,并分别从电效率和热炯效率的角度出发,分析了燃料中能量的有效利用率,定量分析了甲醇串流率、电流密度、工作温度、阴极压力等参数对电池炯效率的影响,揭示了不可逆因素对直接甲醇燃料电池炯传递规律的影响.通过分析发现:燃料电池在运行过程中产生的热能<火用在总有效能中占有很大比例,与电能相当,充分利用热量炯可显著提高电池的整体效率;电池在低电流密度下运行时,甲醇串流率过高足造成能量损失的主要原因;DMFC的总效率在电流密度接近极限电流密度时达到峰值,电池的工作电流应尽量控制在这一区间内.     

空气辅助喷射甲醇发动机燃烧特性试验研究

为了优化低负荷下甲醇发动机的燃烧及性能,将空气辅助喷射系统应用于甲醇发动机,并研究了喷气时刻、点火提前角和喷气脉宽对甲醇发动机燃烧特性的影响,结果表明：推迟喷气时刻至进气门开启之后有利于加快燃烧速度,提高发动机燃烧稳定性,尤其是在稀薄燃烧时的影响更明显,最佳的喷气时刻为300°CA BTDC．增大点火提前角可以缩短发动机的急燃期,提高燃烧稳定性,但是当喷气时刻推迟时,为了获得更好的动力性,最佳点火提前角也要推迟．增大喷气脉宽能优化发动机燃烧质量,提升发动机动力性和稳定性,但是当喷气时刻较早(闭阀喷射)或过晚时,喷气脉宽大于4 ms后动力性和燃烧稳定性增加不明显．并且在喷气时刻300°CA BTDC、喷气脉宽7 ms时,发动机的动力性和燃烧稳定性达到最佳．     

直接液体甲醇燃料电池流场组织行为研究(Ⅱ)双极板交错布置新方案

利用已建立的数学模型,在考察了两极极板对称布置的传统直接甲醇燃料电池几何参数影响的基础上,提出了一种两极板交错布置的新方案.对比研究了交错布置和对称布置两种方案的流场特性、电荷流动特性和化学反应分布特性,计算了该方案的催化层、扩散层和质子交换膜尺度的影响.优化尺度后,得出一个性能较优的采用交错布置方案的电池,其输出电势和极限电流密度均比传统对称布置方案提高约10%,为甲醇燃料电池的组装和优化设计提供一种新思路.     

Recent progress in passive direct methanol fuel cells at KIST

This paper describes recent advances in passive direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). At KIST, we have been developing passive micro-DMFCs with capacities under 5 W that are expected to be used as portable power sources. Research activities are focused on development of membrane–electrode assemblies (MEAs) and design of monopolar stacks operating under passive and air-breathing conditions. The passive cells showed many unique features, much different from the active ones. Single cells with active area of 6 cm² showed a maximum power density of 40 mW/cm² at 4 M of methanol concentration at room temperature. A six-cell stack having a total active area of 27 cm² was constructed in a monopolar configuration and it produced a power output of 1000 mW (37 mW/cm²). Effects of experimental parameters on the performance were also examined to investigate the operation characteristics of single cells and monopolar stacks. Application of micro-DMFCs as portable power sources were demonstrated using small toys and display panels powered by the passive monopolar stacks.     

Performance of air-breathing direct methanol fuel cell with Au-coated aluminum current collectors

Current collectors of the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) are of significant importance for portable power sources, and greatly determine the weight energy density and cost of the cell. In this paper, the air-breathing aluminum (Al) current collectors have been developed for powering portable applications. The anode and cathode current collectors with the area of 4.5 cm² were fabricated on the Al substrates utilizing Computer Numerical Control (CNC) technology. To obtain strong anti-corrosion resistance, a 3-μm-Au layer was deposited on the current collectors using chemical plating. Compared with the graphite and stainless steel, the characterization of the Au-coated Al current collector was investigated to exhibit superior characteristics in electric conductivity, weight and electrochemical corrosion resistance. The current collector was applied to a DMFC and the cell performance was experimentally investigated under different operating conditions. The measured maximum power density of the DMFC could reach 19.8 mW cm⁻² at current density of 98 mA cm⁻² with 2 M methanol solutions. The results indicated that the Au-coated Al current collectors presented in this paper might be helpful for the development of portable power sources applied in future commercial applications.     

Development of a direct methanol fuel cell stack fed with pure methanol

Two passive fuel cell stacks with the same four MEAs in a series connection have been fabricated, tested, and compared. The dilute-stack was filled with 30 mL dilute methanol solutions (1–3 M), whereas the pure-stack was driven by 3 mL pure methanol. In the pure-stack, porous components were added on both sides of the MEAs to modify its mass transfer characteristics so that the stack could directly use pure methanol as fuel without having severe methanol crossover. The performance, fuel efficiency, energy efficiency, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) responses of the passive dilute-stack and pure-stack were measured at room temperature with different fuels. The pure-stack using pure methanol showed similar performance with the dilute-stack using 1 M methanol solution. The measured fuel efficiency and energy efficiency of the pure-stack were 53.6% and 13.3%, respectively, at 1.2 V. Since 100% methanol, instead of the less than 10% methanol solutions, was used as fuel, the energy density of the pure-stack per weight of fuel was more than 10 times higher than that of the dilute stack.     

Two-dimensional two-phase mass transport model for methanol and water crossover in air-breathing direct methanol fuel cells

A two-dimensional two-phase mass transport model has been developed to predict methanol and water crossover in a semi-passive direct methanol fuel cell with an air-breathing cathode. The mass transport in the catalyst layer and the discontinuity in liquid saturation at the interface between the diffusion layer and catalyst layer are particularly considered. The modeling results agree well with the experimental data of a home-assembled cell. Further studies on the typical two-phase flow and mass transport distributions including species, pressure and liquid saturation in the membrane electrode assembly are investigated. Finally, the methanol crossover flux, the net water transport coefficient, the water crossover flux, and the total water flux at the cathode as well as their contributors are predicted with the present model. The numerical results indicate that diffusion predominates the methanol crossover at low current densities, while electro-osmosis is the dominator at high current densities. The total water flux at the cathode is originated primarily from the water generated by the oxidation reaction of the permeated methanol at low current densities, while the water crossover flux is the main source of the total water flux at high current densities.     

Systematic approach for modeling methanol mass transport on the anode side of direct methanol fuel cells

A systematic method for modeling direct methanol fuel cells, with a focus on the anode side of the system, is advanced for the purpose of quantifying the methanol crossover phenomenon and predicting the concentration of methanol in the anode catalyst layer of a direct methanol fuel cell. The model accounts for fundamental mass transfer phenomena at steady state, including convective transport in the anode flow channel, as well as diffusion and electro-osmotic drag transport across the polymer electrolyte membrane. Experimental measurements of methanol crossover current density are used to identify five modeling parameters according to a systematic parameter estimation methodology. A validation study shows that the model matches the experimental data well, and the usefulness of the model is illustrated through the analysis of effects such as the choice fuel flow rate in the anode flow channel and the presence of carbon-dioxide bubbles.     

Evaluation of Quaternized polyvinyl alcohol/graphene oxide-based membrane towards improving the performance of air-breathing passive direct methanol fuel cells

Graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets are introduced to a Quaternized polyvinyl alcohol (QPVA) polymer matrix to obtain an anion exchange membranes (AEMs) for application of fuel cells. QPVA/GO nanocomposite membranes provide desirable properties such as low fuel uptake and permeability, excellent ionic conductivity, and cell performance, all of which are favorable for AEMs based on our previous works. Passive direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) are recognized as suitable technologies for use in portable devices. Nevertheless, the commercialization of DMFCs remains restricted due to a number of issues related to the conventional membrane; one of these issues is high fuel crossover problems due to high fuel uptake and permeability of Nafion membrane. This study aimed to expand the potential applications of QPVA/GO nanocomposite membranes in air-breathing passive DMFCs. The ionic conductivity, methanol uptakes (MUs), and permeabilities of self-synthesis QPVA/GO nanocomposites are examined to evaluate the ability to operate in methanol atmosphere. At 30°C, the ionic conductivity of the membranes reached 1.74 × 10⁻² S cm⁻¹. The MUs and permeabilities were as low as 35% and 7.6 × 10⁻⁷ cm² s⁻¹, respectively. The performance of air-breathing passive DMFCs bearing QPVA/GO nanocomposite membrane is much higher compared to conventional membranes. The maximum power density of air-breathing passive DMFCs was achieved 27.2 mW cm⁻² under the optimum condition of 2 M methanol + 4 M KOH at 70°C. Single-cells could be sustained for 1000 hours. This article is the first to optimize and highlight the performance air-breathing passive DMFCs by using a QPVA-based membrane.     

A transient two-phase mass transport model for liquid feed direct methanol fuel cells

A transient two-phase mass transport model for liquid feed direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) is developed. With this model, various processes that affect the DMFC transient behaviors are numerically studied. The results show that the cell voltage exhibits an overshoot behavior in response to a sudden change in the current density. The magnitude of the overshoot depends on the magnitudes of the change in the cell current density and the initial current density. It is found that the dynamic change in the methanol permeation through the membrane to the cathode results in a strong cathode overpotential overshoot, which is believed to be the predominant factor that leads to the cell voltage overshoot. In contrast, the anode overpotential is relatively insensitive to the changes in the methanol concentration as well as CO surface coverage in the anode catalyst layer. Moreover, the effect of the double layer capacitance (DLC) on the cell dynamic behavior is studied and the results show that the DLC can smoothen the change in the cell voltage in response to a change in the cell current density. Furthermore, the dynamic response of mass transport to a change in the cell current density is found to be rather slow. In particular, it is shown that the slow response in the mass transport of methanol is one of the key factors that influence the cell dynamic operation.     

Development of an air-breathing direct methanol fuel cell with the cathode shutter current collectors

An air-breathing direct methanol fuel cell with a novel cathode shutter current collector is fabricated to develop the power sources for consumer electronic devices. Compared with the conventional circular cathode current collector, the shutter one improves the oxygen consumption and mass transport. The anode and cathode current collectors are made of stainless steel using thermal stamping die process. Moreover, an encapsulation method using the tailor-made clamps is designed to assemble the current collectors and MEA for distributing the stress of the edges and inside uniformly. It is observed that the maximum power density of the air-breathing DMFC operating with 1 M methanol solution achieves 19.7 mW/cm² at room temperature. Based on the individual DMFCs, the air-breathing stack consisting of 36 DMFC units is achieved and applied to power a notebook computer.     

Analysis of heat and mass transport in a miniature passive and semi passive liquid-feed direct methanol fuel cell

A two-dimensional, transient, multi-phase, multi-component, and non-isothermal model has been developed to solve the heat and mass transport in a passive and semi passive liquid-feed direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). A semi passive DMFC uses channel at the cathode side to facilitate the oxidant transport. The transient characteristics of the temperature, methanol concentration, methanol crossover, useful current density and methanol evaporation are investigated. The results indicate that the temperature in the fuel cell increases during operation as much as 10 °C, due to the heat generation by internal phase change and the electrochemical reactions. However, it is revealed that the temperature distribution is nearly uniform at any time through all porous layers including the fuel cell and fuel delivery system. The effect of using an active feeding system in the cathode and passive methanol feeding in the anode (semi passive system) on the performance of a fuel cell is also studied. The active oxidant feeding to the cathode catalyst layer in the semi passive cell improved the fuel cell performance compared to that in a passive one. However, in general, the performance of passive cell is better than that in a semi passive one because of more temperature increase in the passive system.     

An ultrasound enhanced direct methanol fuel cell

A novel direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) incorporating an ultrasonic transducer is introduced based on a recent provisional patent application [J. Ge, J. Han, H. Liu, Ultrasounically enhanced fuel cell system, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/815,268, June 21, 2006]. The ultrasound transducer is embedded in the methanol supply line and is used to enhance the performance of a DMFC. The technique of introducing ultrasound through methanol supply line significantly reduced the potential losses in ultrasound transmission to the reaction sites of the fuel cell. Series of experiments have been conducted to study the effect of the ultrasound on the performance of the DMFC. The experimental results showed that the high-frequency vibrations of the ultrasound through the methanol supply line enhance the cell performance significantly and consistently. The experimental results unequivocally demonstrated the feasibility of using ultrasound to enhance DMFC performance and the effectiveness of introducing ultrasound into a DMFC via methanol supply line to minimize the wave transmission losses.