Direct Ethanol Fuel Cell

Fuel cell as a clean and efficient energy source has several advantages for military applications, including lower weight, better safety, shorter down time (no recharge time), and lower heat signature. Ethanol not only has a 33% higher energy density than methanol, but also has the advantage of being nontoxic and less flammable. Additionally, ethanol can be produced by fermentation of locally sourced biomass, which will reduce need to transport fuels in combat fields. Both oxygen oxidation reaction (ORR) and ethanol oxidation reactions (EOR) are more facile in alkaline than in acid media, making possible the use of non-precious metals as effective catalysts in alkaline media and reducing the cost of fuel cells. Through executing SBIR Phase I&II projects, we have successfully carried out our proposed work and developed very promising catalysts for ORR and EOR in alkaline media. Furthermore, composite membranes with improved fuel crossover capacity were developed. The direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) using the developed catalysts and membranes achieved peak power densities as high as those with state-of-the-art PEM-DMFCs using Pt-based catalysts. In this subsequent Phase II SBIR project we propose to develop DEFC prototypes and explore the transition/commercialization path of the developed products.