Water management in alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cell anode

A review of radiation-grafted polymer electrolyte membranes for alkaline polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

“…Recently, alkaline PEM fuel cells have garnered great interest because several potential advantages over acidic PEM fuel cells have also been recognized, such as: a faster oxygen reduction reaction, which allows the use of cost-effective, non-Pt-based catalysts, including nickel-and silver-based materials [16e19]; a less corrosive environment allowing inexpensive component materials to be used [20]; decreased fuel crossover rates [21e23] allowing the possibility of using low-cost membranes [24e28]; the improved water management because the electro-osmotic drag transports water away from the cathode; the reduced alcohol "crossover" problem because OH À anions move across the membrane as opposed to H þ ions in an acidic membrane [29]; as well as the mitigated CO poisoning. In addition, alkaline PEM fuel cells can use many different fuels such as H 2 , CH 3 OH, CH 3 CH 2 OH, CH 3 CHOHCH 3 , (CH 3 OH) 2 , NaBH 4 ,, although hydrogen and methanol are still considered the two major ones.…”

“…Hence, good water management inside the membrane is required. Huo et al [29,266] made some assumptions to simplify the situation by developing a numerical, three-dimensional, multiphase model to investigate water transport at the anode of an alkaline PEM fuel cell. Li et al [211] also investigated water transport properties using an alkaline membrane.…”

Numerical Analysis on Water Transport in Alkaline Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

“…Research on the water transport in AAEMFC under various humidified conditions could provide important strategic information for operational control of the AAEMFC system; however, such research has been scarce hitherto. 16 In the present study, a simple one-dimensional isothermal model for AAEMFCs is developed to examine the effect of humidified conditions on the cell performance. By testing four cases of varying humidity (dry or fully humidified anode or cathode), we found that anode humidification is essential to secure good AAEMFC performance.…”

Numerical analysis of anion-exchange membrane direct glycerol fuel cells under steady state and dynamic operations

“…An early one-dimensional, steady state study applied Tafel expressions to model electrode reactions and a multi-layer membrane model in order to study mass transport in an alkaline direct ethanol fuel cell [37]. Multidimensional, steady state and dynamic models were developed for the anode of H 2 /O 2 AEMFC to study the effect of operating conditions on the transient distribution of liquid water in the anode [38,39]. An analytical model was recently reported for an alkaline membrane direct methanol fuel cell to identify the most significant factors affecting cell performance including methanol crossover and water transport limitations [40].…”