Progress in the development of a high-power,direct ethylene glycol fuel cell (DEGFC) |
| |
Affiliation: | 1. “Catalysis and Non-conventional Media” group, IC2MP, UMR CNRS 7285, Université de Poitiers, 4 rue Michel Brunet, TSA 51106, 86073 Poitiers cedex 9, France;2. Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering and Center for Emerging Energy Technologies, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, United States |
| |
Abstract: | We recently reported on a high-power nanoporous proton-conducting membrane (NP-PCM)-based direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) operated with triflic acid. However, accompanying the advantages of methanol as a fuel, such as low cost and ease of handling and storage, are several pronounced disadvantages: toxicity, high flammability, low boiling point (65 °C) and the strong tendency to pass through the polymer-exchange membrane (high crossover). The focus of this work is the development of a high-power direct ethylene glycol fuel cell (DEGFC) based on the NP-PCM. Ethylene glycol (EG) has a theoretical capacity 17% higher than that of methanol in terms of Ah ml−1 (4.8 and 4, respectively); this is especially important for portable electronic devices. It is also a safer (bp 198 °C) fuel for direct-oxidation fuel cell (DOFC) applications. Maximum power densities of 320 mW cm−2 (at 0.32 V) at 130 °C have been achieved in the DEGFC fed with 0.72 M ethylene glycol in 1.7 M triflic acid at 3 atm at the anode and with dry air at 3.7 atm at the cathode. The cell platinum loading was 4 mg Pt cm−2 on each electrode. The overpotentials at the cathodes and at the anodes of the DEGFC and DMFC were measured, compared and discussed. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录! |
|