Rights statement: This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Electrochimica Acta. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Electrochimica Acta, 251, 2017 DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2017.08.068
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Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Enhanced performance based on hybrid cathode backing layer using a biomass derived activated carbon framework for methanol fuel cells
AU - Balakrishnan, Prabhuraj
AU - Inal, I. Isil Gurten
AU - Cooksey, Emily
AU - Banford, Anthony
AU - Aktas, Zeki
AU - Holmes, Stuart
N1 - This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Electrochimica Acta. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Electrochimica Acta, 251, 2017 DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2017.08.068
PY - 2017/10/10
Y1 - 2017/10/10
N2 - Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) suffer from performance reduction due to mass transport losses incurred at high current regions. In this work, we report the use of activated carbon (AC), prepared from factory waste-tea, as cathode microporous layer in the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of a DMFC, alleviating this mass transport effect. This biomass based AC framework, when tested under fuel cell operating conditions provided 0.25 V @ 300 mA cm−2, enhancing cell performance by 33% over standard electrodes at 70 °C. During uninterrupted durability testing, this electrode displayed exceptional stability in mass transport dominated region, with loss of 15 mV day−1, compared to 25 mV day−1 loss for the standard. Sample and electrode characterization measurements reveal that pore size distribution/particle size characteristics coupled with hydrophobic nature of the synthesized activated carbon, contributed to the performance improvement.
AB - Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) suffer from performance reduction due to mass transport losses incurred at high current regions. In this work, we report the use of activated carbon (AC), prepared from factory waste-tea, as cathode microporous layer in the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of a DMFC, alleviating this mass transport effect. This biomass based AC framework, when tested under fuel cell operating conditions provided 0.25 V @ 300 mA cm−2, enhancing cell performance by 33% over standard electrodes at 70 °C. During uninterrupted durability testing, this electrode displayed exceptional stability in mass transport dominated region, with loss of 15 mV day−1, compared to 25 mV day−1 loss for the standard. Sample and electrode characterization measurements reveal that pore size distribution/particle size characteristics coupled with hydrophobic nature of the synthesized activated carbon, contributed to the performance improvement.
KW - Direct methanol fuel cells
KW - Microporous layer
KW - Carbon
KW - Activated carbon
KW - Improved power density
U2 - 10.1016/j.electacta.2017.08.068
DO - 10.1016/j.electacta.2017.08.068
M3 - Journal article
VL - 251
SP - 51
EP - 59
JO - Electrochimica Acta
JF - Electrochimica Acta
SN - 0013-4686
ER -