This paper reports the results of fuel cell performance tests detailing the effects of Ni/Al layered double hydroxide (Ni-LDH) on the performance of alkaline direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). It is desirable to enhance the maximum rate of methanol consumption at a fuel cell’s anode so that expensive bimetallic catalysts (such as Pt-Ru) would not be as essential to remedy the well-known sluggish kinetics and Pt catalyst deactivation tendencies of DMFCs. The test cells were constructed using partially hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol film membranes impregnated with a 10 M potassium hydroxide electrolyte. The cells were tested at a constant temperature of , and the effect of the addition of Ni-LDH to the membrane surface was studied by comparison of fuel cell polarization and power production curves of cells with Pt or Pt-Ru anodes paired with Pt cathodes. The benefits of Ni-LDH addition to DMFCs are clearly shown vis-à-vis the extended operating current densities and associated increases in power density for each catalyst type. The enhancement effect of Ni-LDH appears largely as enhancement of cell mass transport. Cells constructed with Pt anodes and membrane surfaces modified by Ni-LDH perform very nearly as well as Ni-LDH-free cells using bimetallic Pt-Ru anodes.
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e-mail: jganley@howard.edu
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June 2010
This article was originally published in
Journal of Fuel Cell Science and Technology
Research Papers
Performance Enhancement of Alkaline Direct Methanol Fuel Cells by Ni/Al Layered Double Hydroxides
Jason C. Ganley,
Jason C. Ganley
Department of Chemical Engineering,
e-mail: jganley@howard.edu
Howard University
, 2013 Lewis K. Downing Hall, 2300 6th Street NW, Washington, DC 20059
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Nana K. Karikari,
Nana K. Karikari
Department of Chemistry,
Howard University
, 525 College Street NW, Washington, DC 20059
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Dharmaraj Raghavan
Dharmaraj Raghavan
Department of Chemistry,
Howard University
, 525 College Street NW, Washington, DC 20059
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Jason C. Ganley
Department of Chemical Engineering,
Howard University
, 2013 Lewis K. Downing Hall, 2300 6th Street NW, Washington, DC 20059e-mail: jganley@howard.edu
Nana K. Karikari
Department of Chemistry,
Howard University
, 525 College Street NW, Washington, DC 20059
Dharmaraj Raghavan
Department of Chemistry,
Howard University
, 525 College Street NW, Washington, DC 20059J. Fuel Cell Sci. Technol. Jun 2010, 7(3): 031019 (6 pages)
Published Online: March 17, 2010
Article history
Received:
March 11, 2009
Revised:
June 10, 2009
Online:
March 17, 2010
Published:
March 17, 2010
Citation
Ganley, J. C., Karikari, N. K., and Raghavan, D. (March 17, 2010). "Performance Enhancement of Alkaline Direct Methanol Fuel Cells by Ni/Al Layered Double Hydroxides." ASME. J. Fuel Cell Sci. Technol. June 2010; 7(3): 031019. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3211100
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