Ethanol/water mixture permeation through a Nafion® based membrane electrode assembly

Ethanol crossover and direct ethanol PEM fuel cell performance modeling and experimental validation

“…The swelling behavior of the Nafion membrane in aqueous ethanol solutions was also reported in literature (Elliot et al, 2001). However, as it was found experimentally (Kontou et al, 2006) the observed behavior at least for relatively low ethanol concentrations is quasi-reversible.…”

“…As it can be observed from Fig. 6(a) the ethanol crossover rate increases as the temperature increases and the apparent activation energy is about 4 kcal/mol indicating the physical nature of the crossover process (Kontou et al, 2006). A comparison between the simulation and the experimental observations, under open circuit conditions, is also shown.…”

“…Effect of temperature on ethanol crossover rate, comparison between simulation and experimental results(Kontou et al, 2006). (b) Apparent activation energy along with ethanol feed concentration.…”

Effect of operating parameters and anode diffusion layer on the direct ethanol fuel cell performance

“…On the other hand, fuel crossover is also a thermally activated process. With increasing temperature the Nafion polymer backbone relaxes and expands allowing higher transport rates, in addition the ethanol diffusivity is also enhanced [13,25]. Therefore the cathode kinetics has two competing effects with increasing temperature.…”

The effect of the parasitic current on the Direct Ethanol PEM Fuel Cell Operation

“…However, there are some challenges such as high anode activation overpotential values, fuel crossover from the anode to the cathode through the electrolyte membrane and mixed overpotential at the cathode compartment of the cell that should be overcome. Over the last years, several experimental works [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] have been devoted to the direct use of ethanol in fuel cells (DEFCs). Almost all the above-mentioned scientific works deal with the problem of ethanol electro-oxidation kinetics at the anode compartment, and the research conducted in order more effective catalysts to be found.…”