Experimental analysis on the influence of cathode current-collector open ratio on the performance of an air breathing direct methanol fuel cell (AB-DMFC) with the addition of alkali solution

Abstract

Research efforts have been centred on creating potential methods for producing green energy. A viable choice in this regard is fuel cells. Air breathing direct methanol fuel cell (AB-DMFC) is one of the many types of fuel cells, that is becoming increasing popular as a source of electricity for recharging portable electronic devices. The current study examined AB-DMFC performance equipped with various open ratio (OR)’s of cathode current collector (CC) such as 38.5%, 45.4%, and 55.4%. The cathode CC in an AB-DMFC is extremely vital to the operation of the fuel cell since it collects electrons, promotes oxygen flow for the cathode reaction and removes water bubbles produced at the cathode side, among other critical functions. For each open ratio of CC, the anodic fuel is supplied by external components like pumps with a concentration range of 1 M to 4 M methanol. When compared to other two open ratios, the experimental findings demonstrated that CC with a 45.4% OR at 2M of methanol concentration generated maximum power density (MPD) of 7.75 mW/cm². The next stage of experiments continued with the addition of alkali solution (NaOH) to methanol fuel, and it was found that adding alkali solution to methanol fuel enhanced the MPD of 8.5 mW/cm² and decreased methanol cross over compared with conventional AB-DMFC.