Orthogonal flow membraneless fuel cell

This communication reports the development and performance of a membraneless fuel cell that utilizes a convective electrolyte flow orthogonal to the plane of the cell electrodes. The orthogonal flow acts to convect reactants to the electrodes and as a pseudo-membrane between anode and cathode, preventing mixed potentials caused by back diffusion of oxidant onto the anode. The membraneless design allows the cell parameters to be defined by the fuel rather than the membrane. The convective electrolyte flow eliminates the mass transport limited current regime and allows the cell to run under semi-mixed conditions. Power densities as high as 46 mW cm(-2) were achieved with both hydrogen and methanol as fuels. Methanol had a fuel utilization of 42%. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.