Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC) provide an exciting alternative to current energy storage technologies for powering small portable electronic devices. For applications with sufficiently long durations of continuous operation, DMFC’s offer higher energy density, the ability to be refueled instead of recharged, and easier fuel handling and storage than devices that operate with hydrogen. At present, materials and manufacturing challenges impede performance and have prevented the entry of these devices to the marketplace. Higher-performing, cost-effective materials and efficient manufacturing processes are needed to enable the commercialization of DMFC.
In a DMFC, the methanol-rich fuel stream and the oxidant are isolated from one another by a proton-conducting and electrically insulating membrane. Catalysts in the electrodes on either side of the Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) promote the two simultaneous half-reactions which allow the chemical energy carried in the fuel and oxidant to be converted directly into electricity. The goal of this research effort is to develop a continuous manufacturing process for the fabrication of effective DMFC MEAs.
Based on the geometry of the electrode and materials used in the MEA, we propose a roll-to-roll process in which electrodes are coated onto a suitable substrate and subsequently assembled to form a MEA. Appropriate coating methods for electrode fabrication were identified by evaluating the requirements of continuous manufacturing processes; an appropriate set of these processes was then reduced to practice on a custom-designed flexible test bed designed explicitly for this project. After establishing baseline capabilities for several candidate methods, a spraying process was selected and a continuous manufacturing process concept was proposed. Finally, key control parameters of the spraying process were identified and their influence tested on actual MEAs to define optimal operating conditions. / text
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTEXAS/oai:repositories.lib.utexas.edu:2152/ETD-UT-2010-12-2554 |
| Date | 21 December 2011 |
| Creators | Koraishy, Babar Masood |
| Source Sets | University of Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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