Alkaline Methanol Fuel Cell

Tam DuongDr. Yushan Yan

Fuel CellElectrochemical device

Convert chemical energy into electricity

Having two electrodes: Positive (cathode) and Negative (anode)

Reaction with the presence of electrolyte.

Working depends on the catalyst

System

Cell system with rotating disk, reference electrode, platinum wire, and gas vent.

Why Methanol Fuel Cell? Methanol has high energy density.

Easy to store in liquid state in room temperature.

Fuel cell works as a battery that doesn’t go down or need to be charged.

Highly promising to serve as a power source for cell phones, and laptops.

Reduce the pollution

Methanol Fuel Cell Alkaline Methanol Fuel Cell: Hydroxide flow from cathode to

anode.

Waste Products: Water and Carbon Dioxide Toxic and flammable In 2005, ICAO (International Civil Avitation Organization) DGP

(Dangerous Food Panel) voted to allow passengers to carry and uses micro fuel cell when travelling aboard.

OH

eOHO

6

632

322

OH

eOHCO

OHOHCH

65

6

22

3

Current

Basic Information Nafion membrane (ionomer)

Qualified Power (W): 100 kW to 1MW

Working temperature: 90 – 120 deg C

Electrical efficiency:-Cell : 20-30%-System: 10-20%

Typical fuel cell: 0.6 – 0.7 V

Method of Collecting Data

Coating the glassy carbon electrode with the calculated volume of catalyst

• Sample Volume = (Electrode Area)*(Loading/Area)*(Solution Concentration)

• 10 ul of .05% Nafion

Making 250 mL electrolyte (0.1M KOH) Setting the cell up with Pt wire and the reference

electrode Connecting the gas vent Blowing gas into the cell and record data

Cyclic Voltammetry

One type of potential electrochemical measurement. (Potential scanning)

Forward sweep: reversible oxidation Reversed sweep: Reduction Used to calculate the surface area

mA

V

Oxid

ati

on

R

educt

ion

Basic Shape of a CV curve

Tested Samples

Loadings(µg/cm2)

ORR(without MeOH)

ORR(With

MeOH)

MOR HOR

Ag/C 50 + + - -

Ag/C 100 + + - -

AgNW 50 + + - -

AgNW 100 + + - -

AgNW 600 + + - -

Au 100 + + - -

SeNW 300 + + - -

PdNT 50 + + + +

Pd/Pt 100 + + + +

Pd/Pt 150 + + + +

Ni 320 + + - -

Table of Samples and Results

Calculating the Theoretical Surface Area

drm

A..

3

4 3

Calculating Experimental Surface Area

Area (CV graph) [mA.V] x speed [1/V] x ratio [mC/mA]

Constant [mC/cm2] x loading [µg/cm2] x area (electrode) [cm2] x 0.77

m

A

ETEK with Nafion (ORR)

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

-1 -0.5 0 0.5

E/V vs Hg/HgOI/m

Acm

-2

ORR curve without methanolat 5 mV/s scanning speed

ORR curve with methanol at 5 mV/s scanning speed

ETEK with Nafion (HOR and MOR)

HOR curve with 300 rpm at 5 mV/s scanning speed

MOR curve at 50 mV/s scanning speed

SeNW (ORR)

SeNW (HOR and MOR)

HOR curve with 300 rpm at 5 mV/s scanning speed

MOR curve at 50 mV/s scanning speed

Gold NanoTube (ORR)

Gold NanoTube (HOR and MOR)

HOR with 300 rpm at 5 mV/s

MOR at 50 mV/s

Palladium Nanotube

ORR with 1600 rpm at5 mV/s

Chronoamperometryat -0.15 V vs Hg/HgO

Palladium Nanotube (HOR and MOR)

HOR with 300 rpm at 5 mV/s

MOR at 50 mV/s

Silver Nanowire 600 µg (ORR)

Silver Nanowire 600 µg (MOR)

Silver Nanowire (100 µg)

HOR with 300 rpm at 5 mV/s

ORR with 1600 rpm at 5 mV/s

Silver Nanowire 50ug (ORR)

Silver Nanowire 50ug (HOR and MOR)

HOR with 300 rpm at 5 mV/s

MOR at 50 mV/s

Palladium and Platinum

ORR with 1600 rpm at 5 mV/s

Chronoamperometry at -0.15 V vs Hg/HgO

Palladium/Platinum (HOR and MOR)

HOR with 300 rpm at 5 mV/s

MOR at 50 mV/s

Ag/C (ORR)

ORR_Ag/C (50 ug/cm2) ORR_Ag/C (100 ug/cm2)

Conclusion Platinum nanotube, palladium nanotube work for

HOR, MOR, and ORR. Silver on carbon, silver nanowires, gold

nanotube, selenium nanowires work for ORR even with methanol.

Future Work Testing platinum/silver alloy Making silver nanowires