Methanol crossover (MCO) significantly affects the performance of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). In order to reduce its effect, this study presents in-house carbon nanofiber webs (CNWs) used as a porous methanol barrier for MCO control in a passive DMFC. The CNW is made from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) by using electrospinning and heat treatment. The impacts of PAN concentration and carbonizin...

The performance of direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is closely related to its operating conditions, and there exists a specific combination of operating conditions at which the DMFC output maximum power to the driven load. Working at maximum power point (MPP) can lower the methanol crossover and ancillary power consumption so as to improve the global efficiency of the system. The fuzzy controll...

Self-healing proton-exchange membranes (PEMs) made of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and Nafion were synthesized using the freeze-thaw method. Since PVA is more selective towards water than methanol, blend membrane successfully reduced methanol permeability improved selectivity compared to recast membrane. The addition also helped self-heal by promoting formation hydrogen bonds. In contrast pristine...

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are emerging material class for the past few years due to its tailorability characteristics for various applications. However, the research and development (R&D) of MOFs is still scarce for fuel cell system. This may be due to the several difficulties faced in selecting a good MOFs-based electrolyte, which consequently affects both proton conduction and methanol ...

Owing to the serious crossover of methanol from the anode to the cathode through the polymer electrolyte membrane, direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) usually use dilute methanol solutions as fuel. However, the use of high-concentration methanol is highly demanded to improve the energy density of a DMFC system. Instead of the conventional strategies (for example, improving the fuel-feed system, ...

High surface area carbon with a nitrogen content of 7.0% is derived from MOF via in situ g-C3N4 formation. The material shows excellent ORR activity with an onset potential of 0.035 V (vs. Hg/HgO) in alkaline medium apart from high durability and strong disinclination towards methanol crossover.

A silicon-based micro direct methanol fuel cell ( DMFC) for portable applications has been developed and its electrochemical characterization carried out in this study. Anode and cathode flowfields with channel and rib width of 750 m and channel depth of 400 m were fabricated on Si wafers using the microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology. A membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) was speciall...

Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) hold great promise for applications ranging from portable power for electronics to transportation. However, apart from the high costs, current Pt-based cathodes in DMFCs suffer significantly from performance loss due to severe methanol crossover from anode to cathode. The migrated methanol in cathodes tends to contaminate Pt active sites through yielding a mix...