A Liquid–Vapor Two-Phase Model of Direct Methanol Fuel Cells With Platinum Group Metal-Free Cathode Catalyst

Miao, Zheng; Hu, Bin; He, Ya-Ling; Xu, Jinliang; Li, Xianglin

doi:10.1115/1.4051209

Title: A Liquid–Vapor Two-Phase Model of Direct Methanol Fuel Cells With Platinum Group Metal-Free Cathode Catalyst

Journal Article · Tue Jun 08 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4051209· OSTI ID:1980657

Miao, Zheng; Hu, Bin; He, Ya-Ling; Xu, Jinliang; Li, Xianglin

Abstract This study has developed a two-dimensional, two-phase transport model to investigate the transport characteristics in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) using platinum group metal (PGM)-free cathode catalysts. The model considered anisotropic properties of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) caused by current collector’s mechanical compression, the interfacial mass transfer of water and methanol between liquid and vapor, and unique properties of the cathode PGM-free catalyst layer. Results showed that the liquid methanol solution from the anode could provide sufficient water to hydrate the proton exchange membrane (PEM), and the relative humidity of the cathode air did not impact the membrane hydration. Fully hydrating the cathode air may deteriorate the fuel cell performance, especially when the operating temperature is close to 100 °C because the exponential increase of the saturated water pressure with temperature decreased the partial pressure of oxygen. The optimized operating temperature increased with the increase of air pressure and was about 80 °C at 1.5 atm cathode pressure. To achieve the US Department of Energy’s performance target of 300 mW/cm2 peak power density, catalytic activities of both the anode and cathode catalysts need to be improved by one order of magnitude compared with the state-of-the-art commercial catalysts.

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Research Organization:: Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

DOE Contract Number:: EE0008440

OSTI ID:: 1980657

Journal Information:: Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage, Vol. 18, Issue 4; ISSN 2381-6872

Publisher:: ASME

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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