Low Temperature Direct 2-Propanol Fuel Cells

Abstract

2-Propanol exhibits a substantially higher cell voltage than methanol in a direct liquid fuel cell at a current density less than ca. <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline" id="ML1" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mn>100</mml:mn> <mml:mo> </mml:mo> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">mA</mml:mi> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> <mml:msup> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">cm</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> <mml:mo>.</mml:mo> </mml:math> Although the performance increases with cell temperature, the cell can deliver 690 mV at a current density of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline" id="ML2" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mn>20</mml:mn> <mml:mo> </mml:mo> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">mA</mml:mi> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> <mml:msup> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">cm</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:math> at room temperature. These features could make 2-propanol an attractive fuel for portable power applications. © 2002 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.