Comparison of the Anode Side Catalyst Supports with and without Incorporation of Liquid Electrolyte Layer on the Performance of a Passive Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

Abstract

In the passive direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) operation, the catalyst plays an important role in electrical energy production. Efficient catalyst support increases the power output and simultaneously decreases irreversible losses in the fuel cell (FC). Effective utilization of methanol at the anode end reduces methanol crossover by selecting good anode catalyst supports. In the present study, two types of anode catalyst support of carbon and carbon black are used. The two types of anode catalysts are Pt-Ru/C+ Pt-Ru/black and Pt-Ru/C along with a 2 mm thick liquid electrolyte (LE) layer placed in the middle of the two half MEAs. The LE layer is made of piled hydrophilic filter papers, which are soaked in a solution of 1 M H2SO4 concentration. The methanol concentration is varied from 1 M to 12 M and from 1 M to 5 M with and without LE-inserted FC, respectively. The passive DMFC with Pt-Ru/C+ Pt-Ru/black anode catalyst and the LE layer exhibit the best performance, producing an MPD of 5.328 mWcm-2 at a 5 M methanol concentration. The MPD produced by the anode catalyst of Pt-Ru/C+ Pt-Ru/black and Pt-Ru/C along with the 2 mm thickness LE layer incorporated fuel cell is 75.26% higher than conventional-based FC of anode catalyst of single-layer catalyst of Pt-Ru/C.