2011 Volume 36 Issue 2 Pages 25-31
Abstract: Direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) attracts much attention as a light weight and small-size power generation system due to its simple fueling system design. Methanol crossover (MCO) is a phenomenon,i n which methanol fuel permeation from the anode to the cathode occurs,that causes a loss of methanol fuel and a suppression of DMFC power. To tackle the MCO is one of the central issues to realize the DMFC for practical applications. Mixed reactant DMFC (MRFC), in which MCO does not occur,c an be a solution,since a mixture of O2-containing methanol solution is fed to the cathode and anode of the stacked cells without using any separator. The MRFC requires reaction-selective electrocatalysts; the anode only reacts methanol and the cathode only oxygen. The presented materials have not shown sufficient reaction selectivity thus far. This article introduces new electrocatalysts developed for the MRFC electrodes.
