A liquid-feed solid polymer electrolyte direct methanol fuel cell operating at near-ambient conditions

Results on the performance of a 25 cm2 liquid-feed solid polymer electrolyte direct methanol fuel cell (SPE-DMFC), operating under near-ambient conditions, are reported. The fuel cell can sustain a load current density of 100 mA cm−2 with an output voltage of c. 450 mV at 90°C with 2 M aqueous methanol and air-fed cathode at near-ambient pressures with a catalyst loading of 5 mg cm−2 of Pt. Preliminary data on the performance of a liquid-feed SPE-DMFC stack comprising two 25 cm2 cells are also reported. These data are sufficient to suggest that further developmental work on liquid-feed SPE-DMFCs operating under near-ambient conditions (0 barg O2 at 90°C) is well worthwhile.