Design, fabrication, and characterization of a planar, silicon-based, monolithically integrated micro laminar flow fuel cell with a bridge-shaped microchannel cross-section

Lopez-Montesinos, Pedro O.; Yossakda, N.; Schmidt, A.; Brushett, Fikile R.; Pelton, W.E.; Kenis, Paul J. A.

doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2011.01.037

Cited by 75 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This has made this fabrication style particularly favoured by research groups investigating biofuels such as glucose for potential biological or point of care medical applications [82], [83], [85], [111], [113], [116], [119], [120]. In general, this single-layer device platform has spawned many derivative studies [48], [50], [55], [76], [77], [80]- [83], [85], [113], [119]- [123] due to its simplicity of construction and the possibility for direct visualization of the co-laminar interface quality and reactant conversion through the clear PDMS channel substrate. This unique feature has recently been utilized to visually track and quantify the effect of herringbone mixers on crossover of reactants via micro particle image velocimetry [110].…”

Section: Research Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Concerning these materials, it is interesting to note the sheer number of reactant combinations that have been attempted with CLFCs. Some of the liquid fuels used include dissolved hydrogen [45], methanol [46], [75], [78], [89], [126], [133], [134], formic acid [38], [54], [75], [79], [81], [123], [127], [129], [131], [135]- [139], hydrogen peroxide [48], [122], V 2+ [37], [55], [56], [58], [87], [92], [94], [96], [105], [106], glucose [80], [83]- [85], [111], [112], [130], glycerol [128], acetate [114], sodium borohydride [75], [91], hydrazine and ethanol [75]. Moreover, it would seem that many CLFC studies focus on other aspects such as catalysis which are not necessarily related to the co-laminar technology [78]- [81], [128], [137], [139].…”

Section: Research Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Co-laminar flow cells for electrochemical energy conversion

Goulet

Kjeang

2014

Journal of Power Sources

104

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A recently developed class of electrochemical cell based on co-laminar flow of reactants through porous electrodes is investigated. New architectures are designed and assessed for fuel recirculation and rechargeable battery operation.Extensive characterization of cells is performed to determine most sources of voltage loss during operation. To this end, a specialized flow cell technique is developed to mitigate mass transport limitations and measure kinetic rates of reaction on flow-through porous electrodes. This technique is used in in conjunction with cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to evaluate different treatments for enhancing the rates of vanadium redox reactions on carbon paper electrodes. It is determined that surface area enhancements are the most effective way for increasing redox reaction rates and thus a novel in situ flowing deposition method is conceived to achieve this objective at minimal cost. It is demonstrated that flowing deposition of carbon nanotubes can increase the electrochemical surface area of carbon paper by over an order of magnitude. It is also demonstrated that flowing deposition can be achieved dynamically during cell operation, leading to considerably improved kinetics and mass transport properties. To take full advantage of this deposition method, the total ohmic resistance of the cell is considerably reduced through design optimization with reduced channel width, integration of current collectors and reduction of reactant concentration. With electrodes enhanced by dynamic flowing deposition the cell presented in this study demonstrates nearly a fourfold improvement in power density over the baseline design.Producing more than twice the power density of the leading co-laminar flow cell without the use of catalysts or elevated temperatures and pressures, this cell provides a lowcost standard for further research into system scale-up and implementation of co-laminar flow cell technology. More generally, the experimental technique and deposition method developed in this work are expected to find broader use in other fields of electrochemical energy conversion. am also very grateful to my graduate colleagues at SFU and friends in FCRel, with a special mention to Omar in particular, for all the pleasant conversations and good times.I wish there had been more.Last but not least, I'd like to acknowledge all the family and friends I was unable to spend quality time with due to this work. I look forward to seeing you all again.vi Tables Table 1. for their higher specific energy and energy density [6]. For the same reasons, the lower power (< 100 W) market which is driven by portable consumer electronics, is currently 2 dominated by closed cell lithium ion batteries in particular [7]. As these batteries reach their limits and fail to keep up with the energy requirements of modern electronics, micro fuel cells with passively pumped higher energy density liquid reactants such as methanol have been suggested as a potential replacement [8].Regardless...

show abstract

Section: Research Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Research Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-laminar flow cells for electrochemical energy conversion

Goulet

Kjeang

2014

Journal of Power Sources

104

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Small-scale fuel cells demonstrate superior energy densities compared to rechargeable batteries; offering smaller, and lighter alternatives for applications requiring portable power sources [6]. Specifically, developments in both novel fuel cell catalysts and electrode assemblies, and advances in fabrication have enabled the miniaturization of fuel cells capable of integration in small portable applications [2e4, 7,8]. Furthermore, liquid organic feed sources, such as methanol, have a distinct advantage compared to gaseous hydrogen feed sources as the fuel can be stored safely at low pressure, in an energy dense form.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design rules for electrode arrangement in an air-breathing alkaline direct methanol laminar flow fuel cell

Thorson

Brushett

Timberg

et al. 2012

Journal of Power Sources

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…In the past decade since their first appearance [4], M 2 FCs have undergone substantial 3 development in their configurations [5][6][7][8][9][10], fabrication [11][12], chemistries [13][14][15] and electrode catalysts [16][17][18][19][20], resulting in a hundred-fold increase in area-specific power and nearly complete single-pass fuel conversion. A comprehensive summary of past M 2 FC research is given by two recent review papers [21,22], where more detailed information on the governing physics, development milestones as well as perspectives of M 2 FC technologies can be found.…”

Section: Membraneless Microfluidic Fuel Cells (Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and characteristics of a membraneless microfluidic fuel cell array

Wang

Leung

et al. 2014

Electrochimica Acta

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Membraneless microfluidic fuel cells (M 2 FCs) are promising portable power sources, but they suffer from limited scalability. This paper presents a scaling-out strategy for general M 2 FC applications with their characteristics studied by both experiments and mathematical modeling. The present strategy addresses the issues of flow distribution non-uniformity and shunt current losses by integrating a well-designed fluid circuit. With the present strategy, parallel and series connections of four cells in an array results in a scaling-out efficiency of 93% and 82%, respectively. The effects of different parameters on the array performance as well as further device scalability are also investigated in this paper. Preferable conditions for 2 the array operation include a high branch ionic resistance, small unit cell difference and high unit-cell performance, which can be achieved by appropriately designing the branch geometry, employing high-precision fabrication / assembly techniques and improving the single-cell materials / chemistries. It is expected that the present array can be incremented to 50 cells or above in series with over 75% efficiency as long as there is sufficiently high branch resistance or cell performance.

show abstract

Design, fabrication, and characterization of a planar, silicon-based, monolithically integrated micro laminar flow fuel cell with a bridge-shaped microchannel cross-section

Cited by 75 publications

References 34 publications

Co-laminar flow cells for electrochemical energy conversion

Co-laminar flow cells for electrochemical energy conversion

Design rules for electrode arrangement in an air-breathing alkaline direct methanol laminar flow fuel cell

Development and characteristics of a membraneless microfluidic fuel cell array

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About