| Abstract: | The effect of varying operating parameters on the degradation of a single‐cell direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) with serpentine flow channels was investigated. Fuel cell internal temperature, methanol concentration, and air and methanol flow rates were varied in experimental tests and fuel cell performance was chronologically recorded. A DMFC semi‐empirical performance model was developed to predict the polarization curves of the DMFC and validated at different operating conditions. Performance degradation was observed and modeled over time by a linear regression model. Unlike previous studies, the cumulative exposure of the operating factors to the fuel cell was considered in the degradation analysis. The degradation model shows the cell voltage generation capacity does not significantly degrade. However, the Tafel slope of the cell changes with cumulative exposure to methanol concentration and air flow, and the ohmic resistance changes with cumulative exposure to temperature, methanol and air flow. |
