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Main Collaborators• Dr. David Ouellette (University of Toronto, Canada)• Dr. Edgar Matida (Carleton University, Canada)• Dr. Cynthia Ann Cruickshank (Carleton University, Canada)• Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur (University of Waterloo, Canada)• Dr. Alan Fung (Ryerson University, Canada)• Dr. Andreas Glüsen (Forschungszentrum Jülich, IEK-3, Germany)• Dr. Martin Müller (Forschungszentrum Jülich, IEK-3, Germany)• Dr. Detlef Stolten (Forschungszentrum Jülich, IEK-3, Germany)

Introduction• A novel DMFC concept by introducing a flowing electrolyte • Reduction in the methanol crossover from the electrolyte compartment by

means of convection mechanisms• Possible applications of FE-DMFC: backup power for recreational activities, golf

cars, and forklifts

Objectives• To show that methanol permeation can actually be reduced and the

performance of a FE-DMFC can be improved using a new cell design and materials

• To compare the performance of FE-DMFCs with DMFCs having a single or double membrane

• To assess the effect of various design and operating parameters (e.g. methanol concentration and the flow rate of sulfuric acid solution) on the performance and crossover current density of FE-DMFC

Advances in the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Research in Dokuz Eylul UniversityC. Ozgur Colpan

Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey

E-mail: ozgur.colpan@deu.edu.tr

FLOWING ELECTROLYTE-DIRECT METHANOL FUEL CELL (FE-DMFC) DMFC BASED ON COMPOSITE MEMBRANES AND CATALYSTS BIO-INSPIRED FLOW FIELDS FOR DMFC

Acknowledgements

Key achievements• Anode serpentine-cathode bio-inspired leaf configuration provided best

performance.• Tree-shaped flow design with four levels of bifurcation achieved much lower

pressure drop than conventional serpentine flow field.

4. Ongoing Research Activities

REFERENCES[1] Colpan, C.O., Ouellette, D., Glüsen, A., Müller, M., Stolten, D. 2017. Reduction of methanol crossover in a flowing electrolyte-direct methanol fuel cell. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. (In Press)[2] Ercelik, M., Ozden, A., Devrim, Y., Colpan, C.O. 2017. Investigation of Nafion based compositemembranes on the performance of DMFCs. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. 42. pp. 2658-2668.[3] Ozden, A., Ercelik, M., Ouellette, D., Colpan, C.O., Ganjehsarabi, H., Hamdullahpur, F. 2017. Designing, modeling and performance investigation of bio-inspired flow field based DMFCs. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. (In Press)

The funding for this project was received from the EuropeanUnion's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programmeunder the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 661579.

Main Collaborators• Dr. Yilser Devrim (Atilim University, Turkey)• Dr. Erol Seker (Izmir Institute of Technology, Turkey)• Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur (University of Waterloo, Canada)

Main Collaborators• Dr. David Ouellette (University of Toronto, Canada)• Dr. Xianguo Li (University of Waterloo, Canada)• Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur (University of Waterloo, Canada)• Dr. Hadi Ganjehsarabi (Erzincan University, Turkey)

Figure 1. A Schematic of a Flowing Electrolyte-Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

Method• Experimental

• A grid type flow field (SS 2205) with dimensions of 1 mm for width and depth of channels as well as width of lands

• The active surface area of the MEA: 42×42 mm²• Catalyst ink: Pt-Ru/C (anode) / Pt/C (cathode), ultrapure

water (18.2 MΩ·cm),15% Nafion solution, alcohol• Decal transfer method• Nafion® 212 or Nafion® 115 as the membrane• PTFE treated carbon felt as the backing layers and FEC

• Mathematical Modeling• 1D, 2D and 3D modeling of FE-DMFC • Two-phase and non-isothermal modeling of FE-DMFC• Coupling proton and electron transport, continuity,

momentum, species transport, and auxiliary equations• Solved in Comsol Multiphysics environment

Key achievements• FE-DMFC can decrease the methanol crossover significantly.• High Faradaic efficiencies up to 98% are possible at different current densities.• FEC permeability greater than 10−11 m−2 is suggested.• Recirculation of methanol at the FEC outlet increases the electrical efficiency.

Figure 2. Flow field of FE-DMFC

Figure 3. Coating with automaticfilm applicator

Figure 4. (a) Polarization curve and (b) crossover current density of FE-DMFC based on N115 or N212 membranes at 0.5 M and 3 M. [1]

(a) (b)

Introduction• Low performance of conventional DMFC at elevated temperatures (>80°C)

mainly due to dehydration of Nafion®• Enhanced proton conductivity and mechanical stability at high temperatures

(>80°C) using composite membranes and/or catalysts• Improved water management and lower methanol crossover through the

inclusion of inorganic additives to the membranes and catalysts

Objectives• To assess the performance of DMFCs based on composite membranes

(Nafion/SiO2, Nafion/TiO2, Nafion/ZrP, and sPS/ZrP)• To compare the performance of DMFCs having both Pt/C-ZrP cathode catalyst

and Nafion/ZrP composite membrane with DMFC made of conventional materials

• To study the effect of weight ratio of TiO2 on the performance of DMFCs basedon Pt-Ru/C-TiO2 anode electrocatalysts

• To study the effect of temperature and methanol concentration on theperformance of DMFCs based on composite membranes

Method• Membrane synthesis and MEA manufacturing

• Membrane preparation using the recasting method• Catalyst coated substrate (CCS) method• Ultrasonic coating technique• Hot press to manufacture MEA

• Single cell testing

Key achievements• The maximum power density of the Nafion/TiO2 and Nafion/SiO2 composite

membrane based MEAs yielded 26% and 36% more power density, respectively, than that of the Nafion® 115 membrane based MEA at 95°C.

• The DMFCs based on Pt-Ru/C-TiO2 anode electrocatalysts containing 5 wt.% of in-house synthesized TiO2 yielded 27.9% more peak power density in comparison to the DMFC based on commercial Pt-Ru/C anode electrocatalyst.

• Introduction of ZrP to commercial (HiSPEC® 9100) cathode catalyst improves both the performance and the stability characteristic of the MEA.

• The maximum power density obtained for sPS/ZrP-42 (119 mW cm-2) was found to be 13% higher than that obtained for Nafion® 115 (105 mW cm-2).

Introduction• Several drawbacks of the serpentine flow field: the localized flooding at the

channel bends and a significant pressure drop between the inlet and outlet• Bio-inspired flow field designs have significant potential to efficiently and

homogeneously transport fluids across active area and reduce pressure drop

Objectives• To compare the performance of bio-inspired and serpentine flow field based

DMFCs through experimental and numerical studies.• To understand the internal transport processes and the differences in

performance between each flow field arrangement• To study the effects of methanol concentration and oxygen and methanol

solution flow rates on the performance of DMFC• To reduce the pressure drop across the cell through innovative flow field

designs

Method• Application of Murray’s law or constructal theory

• Manufacturing of DMFC based on bio-inspired flow fields• Multiphysics modeling of DMFC using Comsol Multiphysics and experimental

validation

Figure 5. Ultrasonic coating machine

Figure 6. Schematic of the computer aided DMFC test station [2]

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Figure 7. Comparison of the polarization curve of sPS/ZrP-20, sPS/ZrP-35, and sPS/ZrP-42 with that of Nafion® 115 in a single DMFC

Figure 8. Effect of temperature on the DMFC based on Nafion/ZrPcomposite membrane and Pt/C-ZrP cathode catalyst (10 wt.%)

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• Modeling of DMFC stacks and systems and their experimental validation• Development of DMFCs based on alternative materials• Development of other alcohol fuel cell types

Figure 9. Bio-inspired leaf flow field designs based on Murray’s law Figure 10. Tree-shaped flow design based on constructal theory

Figure 11. Effect of methanol concentration on DMFC based on serpentine flow field

Figure 12. Effect of methanol concentration on DMFC based on bio-inspired flow field (Murray’s law based)

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