DMFC: Galvanic or electrolytic cell?

Abstract

We report measurements of local current distribution in a direct methanol fuel cell with single straight channels and segmented electrodes. The experiments directly confirm the existence of a bifunctional regime of DMFC operation: at low air flow rate the segments located close to the inlet of the oxygen channel generate current (galvanic domain), while the other segments consume current to produce hydrogen (electrolytic domain). The cell voltage in this regime in not a single-valued function of current in the external load. The electrolytic domain disappears at a critical air flow rate, which does not depend on current in the cell. We show that a model (A.A. Kulikovsky, Electrochem. Commun. 6 (2004) 1259) explains this critical behavior. Finally, we extend the method of measurement of methanol crossover rate suggested by Ye and Zhao (J. Electrochem. Soc. 152 (2005) A2238) to the case of arbitrary current in the load.