INVESTIGATION OF METHANOL CROSSOVER AND SINGLE ELECTRODE PERFORMANCE DURING PEMDMFC OPERATION - A STUDY USING A SOLID POLYMER ELECTROLYTE MEMBRANE FUEL-CELL SYSTEM

Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC) employing polymer Electrolyte Membra ne (PEM) electrolytes have recently gained considerable interest becau se they are attractive candidates for vehicular applications. A. manif old of potential sources of performance losses exists for these system s, a very serious one being methanal crossover across the membrane ele ctrolyte. This work is focused on the dependence of crossover on react ion conditions, such as temperature and methanal concentration. Anode performances are also evaluated. Results are given far the establishme nt of single electrode potentials during cell heat-up and of single el ectrode performances during operation under various conditions. Additi onally, a cyclic voltammetry technique is presented, which allows the evaluation of methanal crossover in a fuel cell under operating condit ions. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.