Operation characteristics of portable direct methanol fuel cell stack at sub-zero temperatures using hydrocarbon membrane and high concentration methanol

Cold start and operation of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) are investigated at sub-zero temperatures by using a 10-cell stack. The stack is manufactured with a hydrocarbon membrane to minimize the methanol crossover problem, which can be caused by use of high concentration methanol solutions. The stack is heated up for the cold start and operation only by heat of the exothermic reactions without any heating device and additional insulation means, to examine operation characteristics of the DMFC stack at low temperatures. The concentration of methanol solutions is selected in the range of 3–8 M, considering the freezing points of the solution for corresponding operation temperatures (−5 to −15 °C). Although the DMFC stack undergoes a sharp voltage drop and a significant performance decrease at the initial stage of the frozen condition, the self-heating DMFC are successfully operated at −5 and −10 °C in both constant current or constant voltage modes. The cold start-up time also is nearly independent of the operating modes. In contrast, the stack at −15 °C is barely started up only by a constant voltage mode with some voltage fluctuation. The DMFC stack after the cold operation exhibits the performance loss of about 45%. Such performance loss is mainly caused by degradation of the electrocatalysts.