The Effect of a Reduction in the Catalyst Loading on a Mini Passive Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

C. S. Moreira, A. M. F. R. Pinto () and V. B. Oliveira ()
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C. S. Moreira: CEFT—Transport Phenomena Research Centre, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
A. M. F. R. Pinto: CEFT—Transport Phenomena Research Centre, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
V. B. Oliveira: CEFT—Transport Phenomena Research Centre, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 20, 1-16

Abstract: Mini passive direct methanol fuel cells (mpDMFCs) appear to be a promising alternative for powering portable devices, since they use a liquid fuel, have a fast refuelling time, have a high efficiency and have a low environmental impact. However, some issues need to be solved before their commercialization, such as methanol crossover, short lifetime and high costs. The present work studies the effect of reducing the anode and cathode catalyst loading on the performance of a mpDMFC towards a reduction in the system costs and the characterization of the system losses. The undesirable losses that affect the fuel cell performance were identified and quantified using the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique. Accordingly, a novel equivalent electric circuit (EEC) was proposed, accurately reproducing the mini pDMFC. In this work, a maximum power density of 7.07 mW cm −2 was obtained, with a methanol concentration of 5 M, using 2 mg cm −2 Pt-RuB and 4 mg cm −2 PtB. The mpDMFC allowed the cell to work with high methanol concentrations and reduced anode catalyst loadings.

Keywords: mini passive direct methanol fuel cell; catalyst loading; power density; electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; equivalent electric circuit (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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