Sulfonated Poly(Ether Ether Ketone) Based Membranes for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) Applications

摘要

Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) are desirable for portable applications such as cell phones, laptops and other portable electronics because they are simple in structure and use liquid fuel. However, high methanol crossover through the membranes is one of the major technical obstacles that impede the commercialization of DMFCs. Crossover is the undesirable transport of fuel from the anode side (fuel side) through the membrane to the cathode side (oxidant side) where it is oxidized by chemical reaction with the oxidant without any contribution to power generation. Methanol crossover also deactivates the cathode electrocatalyst resulting in further efficiency losses.