Performance of 2-propanol in direct-oxidation fuel cells

A direct-oxidation fuel cell using 2-propanol as fuel has been evaluated. The cell performance, open circuit voltage (OCV), and alcohol crossover were measured at various alcohol concentration, cell temperature, and air/nitrogen flow rate. The cell shows much higher performance than a direct methanol fuel cell, especially at current densities less than ca. 200 mA/cm2. This performance is the highest among any direct-liquid-oxidation fuel cells. The cell open circuit voltage can be as much as 0.27 V higher than that of a methanol cell, while the amount of 2-propanol crossing through the membrane can be as low as 1/7 of that of methanol. Therefore, a direct 2-propanol fuel cell can have much higher fuel and fuel cell efficiencies. One problem associated with using 2-propanol as fuel is the anode poisoning by reaction intermediates and a frequent cleaning of the electrode surface is needed.