Improvement of pure methanol fuel cells. Free Technical Library News

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Improvement of clean methanol fuel cells

12.12.2020

Due to the many environmental problems caused by the use of fossil fuels, many scientists around the world are focused on finding effective alternatives. While there are high hopes for hydrogen fuel cells, the reality is that transporting, storing, and using pure hydrogen comes with huge additional costs, making it difficult for today's technologies. In contrast, methanol (CH3O3), a type of alcohol, does not require refrigeration, has a higher energy density, and is easier and safer to transport. Thus, a transition to a methanol-based economy is a more realistic goal.

However, generating electricity from methanol at room temperature requires a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), a device that has so far offered poor performance. One of the major problems with DMFCs is the undesired "methanol oxidation" reaction that occurs during the transition of methanol, "that is, as it passes from the anode to the cathode. This reaction results in the destruction of the platinum (Pt) catalyst, which is essential to the operation of the cell. While certain strategies have been proposed to mitigate this problem, none have been good enough so far due to cost or stability issues.

A group of scientists from Korea came up with a creative and effective solution. They made - using a relatively simple procedure - a catalyst consisting of Pt nanoparticles enclosed in a carbon shell. This shell forms an almost impermeable carbon network with small holes caused by nitrogen defects. Although oxygen, one of the main reactants in DMFC, can reach the Pt catalyst through these "holes", the methanol molecules are too large to pass through.

"The carbon shell acts like a molecular sieve and provides selectivity for the desired reactants that can actually reach the sites of the catalyst. This prevents unwanted reaction of the Pt nuclei," explains Prof. Oh Jung Kwon from Incheon National University (Korea), who led the study.

The scientists conducted various experiments to characterize the general structure and composition of the prepared catalyst, and proved that oxygen can pass through the carbon shell, but methanol cannot. They also found an easy way to control the number of defects in the casing by simply changing the temperature during the heat treatment step. In subsequent experimental comparisons, their new purified catalyst outperformed commercial Pt catalysts and also showed much higher stability.

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