Anionic–cationic bi-cell design for direct methanol fuel cell stack

A new fuel cell stack design is described using an anion exchange membrane (AEM) fuel cell and a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell in series with a single fuel tank servicing both anodes in a passive direct methanol fuel cell configuration. The anionic–cationic bi-cell stack has alkaline and acid fuel cells in series (twice the voltage), one fuel tank, and simplified water management. The series connection between the two cells involves shorting the cathode of the anionic cell to the anode of the acidic cell. It is shown that these two electrodes are at essentially the same potential which avoids an undesired potential difference and resulting loss in current between the two electrodes. Further, the complimentary direction of water transport in the two kinds of fuel cells simplifies water management at both the anodes and cathodes. The effect of ionomer content on the AEM electrode potential and the activity of methanol oxidation were investigated. The individual performance of AEM and PEM fuel cells were evaluated. The effect of ion-exchange capacity in the alkaline electrodes was studied. A fuel wicking material in the methanol fuel tank was used to provide orientation-independent operation. The open circuit potential of the bi-cell was 1.36 V with 2.0 M methanol fuel and air at room temperature.