Polymer electrolyte membrane operating principles

Basic Principle of Operation of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells.760... 

Fig. 1 Operation principle of the various types of fuel cells PEMFC polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell, AFC alkatine fuel cell, PAFC phosphoric add fuel cell, MCFC molten carbonate fuel cell, SOFC sohd oxide fuel cell...

Looking back, the only unequivocal membrane improvement, in spite of all these efforts, has been the reduction of thickness from 200 jjim in 1995 to <50 (jun in 2005. In terms of chemical or morphological modifications at the microstructural level, no definite recommendations could be discerned so far. The focus of the works reviewed herein has been exploring the fundamental relations between micromorphology and transport from micro- to macroscales for prototypical polymer electrolyte membranes and the understanding of their major principles of operation. 

We begin with the discussion of cell thermodynamics and electrochemistry basics (Chapter 1). This chapter may serve as an introduction to the field and we hope it would be useful for the general reader interested in the problem. Chapter 2 is devoted to basic principles of structure and operation of the polymer electrolyte membrane. Chapter 3 discusses micro- and mesoscale phenomena in catalyst layers. Chapter 4 presents recent results in performance modeling of catalyst layers, and in Chapter 5 the reader will find several applications of the modeling approaches developed in the preceding chapters. 

Fuel cells can be classified into phosphoric acid fuel cells, molten carbonate fuel cells, solid oxide full cells, polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, and alkaline full cells according to the type of electrolyte used (150). All these fuel cells operate on the same principle, but the t) e of fuel used, operating speed, the catalyst used and the electrolyte used are different. In particular, pol5mier electrolyte membrane fuel cells can be used in small-sized stationary power generation equipment or transportation systems due to their high reaction speed, low operating temperature, high output density, rapid startup, and variation in the requested output. 

Since the type of electrolyte material dictates operating principles and characteristics of a fuel cell, a fuel cell is generally named after the type of electrolyte used. For example, an alkaline fuel cell (AFC) uses an alkaline solution such as potassium hydroxide (KOH) in water, an acid fuel cell such as phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) uses phosphoric acid as electrolyte, a solid polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) or proton exchange membrane fuel cell uses proton-conducting solid polymer electrolyte membrane, a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) uses molten lithium or potassium carbonate as electrolyte, and a solid oxide ion-conducting fuel cell (SOFC) uses ceramic electrolyte membrane. 

Direct methanol fuel cells are a class of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells that typically employ a cation exchange membrane to separate the anode and cathode compartments. To illustrate the basic principles of DMFC operations, we shall take a typical, liquid-feed cell with a cation exchange membrane (alkaline exchange membranes are an alternative, and these are discussed later in this chapter). This is depicted in Figure 5.1. 

At the heart of a PEM fuel cell is a polymer membrane that has some unique capabilities. It is impermeable to gases but it conducts protons (hence the name, proton exchange membrane). The membrane that acts as the electrolyte is squeezed between the two porous, electrically conductive electrodes. These electrodes are typically made out of carbon cloth or carbon fiber paper. At the interface between the porous electrode and the polymer membrane there is a layer with catalyst particles, typically platinum supported on carbon. A schematic diagram of cell configuration and basic operating principles is shown in Figure 1-10. Chapter 4 deals in greater detail with those major fuel cell components, their materials, and their properties. 

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