Microfluidic hydrogen fuel cell with a liquid electrolyte

作者：Jayashree Ranga S; Mitchell Michael; Natarajan Dilip; Markoski Larry J; Kenis Paul J A^*

来源：Langmuir, 2007, 23(13): 6871-6874.

DOI：10.1021/la063673p

We report the design and characterization of a microfluidic hydrogen fuel cell with a flowing sulfuric acid solution instead of a Nafion membrane as the electrolyte. We studied the effect of cell resistance, hydrogen and oxygen flow rates, and electrolyte flow rate on fuel cell performance to obtain a maximum power density of 191 mW/cm(2). This flowing electrolyte design avoids water management issues, including cathode flooding and anode dry out. Placing a reference electrode in the outlet stream allows for independent analysis of the polarization losses on the anode and the cathode, thereby creating an elegant catalyst characterization and optimization tool.

• 出版日期2007-6-19