Design and fabrication of a quick-fit architecture air breathing direct methanol fuel cell

An air breathing direct methanol fuel cell (AB-DMFC) with a unique architecture was designed and fabricated to hold cell components together firmly, avoid fuel leakage and limit cell resistance. Pt and PtRu catalysts prepared by pulse electrodeposition on Ti mesh based electrodes were employed and compared to traditional carbon-based electrodes. Results showed that Ti mesh can be a suitable catalyst support without the need for a gas diffusion layer (GDL) at the anode, while the absence of a GDL at the cathode drastically reduces cell performance, which can be attributed to the diffusion limitation of oxygen to the cathode. Among the various Ti mesh-based cell configurations explored, the optimum configuration was found with PtRu on an 80 mesh (47% open ratio) Ti anode and a Pt/C coated GDL with 40 mesh (71% open ratio) Ti as a cathode. The single cell AB-DMFC architecture was extended to 2-cell and 6-cell mini-stacks. The 6-cell stack, offering an OCV of 2.9 V and a maximum power of 60 mW using 2 M methanol and ambient air, was used to run a small portable device. (C) 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

An air breathing direct methanol fuel cell (AB-DMFC) with a unique architecture was designed and optimized for high performance, utilizing titanium mesh as a catalyst support and optimizing the configuration of the anode and cathode. The study also extended the single cell AB-DMFC architecture to 2-cell and 6-cell mini-stacks, which were used to power a small portable device.