Performance investigation of passive direct methanol fuel cell in different structural configurations

The aim of the present work is to systematically investigate the performance of a Passive Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (PDMFC) with different structural configurations. The PDMFCs are an attractive option for powering advanced electronic devices in the future due to the high power densities, easy fuel storage, low operating temperature, low noise level and simple design. The cell is completely passive, without external pumps and auxiliary devices; it takes oxygen from the surrounding air and the methanol solution is stored in a built-in tank in contact with the active area. We used a commercial hot-pressed Membrane Electrode Assembly with an active surface of 5 cm2 composed of a Nafion 117 membrane and two Gas Diffusion Layers with catalyst loadings of 4 mg/cm2 Pt-Ru on the anode side and 4 mg/cm2 PtBlack on the cathode side. The supporting external case was manufactured in polymethylmethacrylate; the electrodes consist of two stainless steel SS316 plates and the gaskets are made of PTFE and silicone. The performance of the cell with three different assembly configurations and two different current collector geometry was investigated changing methanol molar concentration (ranging between 1 M and 4 M).