The function of hydrophobic cathodic backing layers for high energy passive direct methanol fuel cell

Homemade wet-proofing carbon papers with back-flow effect were applied as backing layers in the cathode of passive air-breathing direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) fed by pure methanol. With the increase of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) content, the carbon papers exhibited different water transport resistance and generated different back-flow effects. Moreover, PTFE-treated carbon papers were observed by scanning electronic microscope (SEM) to investigate the function of the cross-linked microstructure. Maximum energy density (438 Wh L−1) of the improved pure methanol DMFC was obtained by using carbon paper with 40 wt.% PTFE content as the cathodic backing layer. This value was 6 times larger than that of the conventional DMFC fed by 2 M methanol solution.

► Investigation of water transport resistance and hydrophobicity on carbon paper. ► Hydrophobicity gradient to accelerate the back-flow effect. ► Long-time operation of DMFC with pure methanol and high output energy density.