Schematic Direct Methanol Fuel Cell. Liquid methanol is the fuel being oxidized directly at the anode. The figure below is a schematic diagram of direct methanol fuel cell in which methanol serves as the fuel and pure oxygen as the oxidant.
Direct methanol fuel cells or dmfcs are a subcategory of proton exchange fuel cells in which methanol is used as the fuel. Their main advantage is the ease of transport of methanol an energy dense yet reasonably stable liquid at all environmental conditions. Whilst the thermodynamic theoretical energy conversion efficiency of a dmfc is 97.
The direct methanol fuel cell dmfc is a relatively recent addition to the suite of fuel cell technologies.
The currently achievable energy conversion efficiency for operational cells attains 30 40. The direct methanol fuel cell dmfc was developed to tackle the fuel storage problem of hydrogen and to eliminate the need of a reformer to convert methanol to hydrogen. Whilst the thermodynamic theoretical energy conversion efficiency of a dmfc is 97. In a fuel cell employing an acid electrolyte methanol is directly oxidized to carbon dioxide at the anode.
