Engineers Develop New Fuel Cells with Twice the Operating Voltage as Hydrogen Fuel Cells
martyb writes:
Engineers develop new fuel cells with twice the operating voltage as hydrogen fuel cells:
Liquid-fueled fuel cells are an attractive alternative to traditional hydrogen fuel cells because they eliminate the need to transport and store hydrogen. They can help to power unmanned underwater vehicles, drones and, eventually, electric aircraft - all at significantly lower cost. These fuel cells could also serve as range-extenders for current battery-powered electric vehicles, thus advancing their adoption.
Now, engineers at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis have developed high-power direct borohydride fuel cells (DBFC) that operate at double the voltage of conventional hydrogen fuel cells. Their research was published June 17 in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science.
The research team, led by Vijay Ramani, the Roma B. and Raymond H. Wittcoff Distinguished University Professor, has pioneered a reactant: identifying an optimal range of flow rates, flow field architectures and residence times that enable high power operation. This approach addresses key challenges in DBFCs, namely proper fuel and oxidant distribution and the mitigation of parasitic reactions.
Importantly, the team has demonstrated a single-cell operating voltage of 1.4 or greater, double that obtained in conventional hydrogen fuel cells, with peak powers approaching 1 watt/cm2. Doubling the voltage would allow for a smaller, lighter, more efficient fuel cell design, which translates to significant gravimetric and volumetric advantages when assembling multiple cells into a stack for commercial use. Their approach is broadly applicable to other classes of liquid/liquid fuel cells.
[...] The key to improving any existing fuel cell technology is reducing or eliminating side reactions. The majority of efforts to achieve this goal involve developing new catalysts that face significant hurdles in terms of adoption and field deployment.
Journal Reference:
Zhongyang Wang, Shrihari Sankarasubramanian, Vijay Ramani. Reactant-Transport Engineering Approach to High-Power Direct Borohydride Fuel Cells, Cell Reports Physical Science (DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2020.100084)
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