"This thesis investigates the effect of temperature, methanol concentration, and oxidant type on the performance of a Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) using two versions of a commercially available polybenzimidazole (PBI)-based membrane electrode assembly (MEA): the Celtec®-P 1000 MEA of original thickness and double thickness. The PBI-based MEA’s were tested under the vapor-phase methanol concentrations of 1M, 2M, 3M, 5M, 7.5M, and 10M, temperatures of 160-180°C, and oxidants of oxygen and air. It was found that performance increased with temperature and that oxygen outperformed air as methanol concentrations increased. The double thickness PBI-based MEA, was more resistant to methanol crossover and performed better with increasing methanol concentrations. Thus, these commercial MEAs may be suitable for developing higher temperature DMFCs."
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:wpi.edu/oai:digitalcommons.wpi.edu:etd-theses-1955 |
| Date | 22 August 2012 |
| Creators | Knox, Daniel |
| Contributors | Ravindra Datta, Advisor, , |
| Publisher | Digital WPI |
| Source Sets | Worcester Polytechnic Institute |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Masters Theses (All Theses, All Years) |
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