ABSTRACT
This chapter presents aspects of developments in direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) technologies. It discusses trends in DMFC design, electrocatalyst, and membrane development. The chapter focuses on the application side of the technology, and, given space constraints, computer modeling studies are not covered in depth. A modern fuel cell design generally falls into one of five categories: alkaline fuel cell, polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC), phosphoric acid fuel cell, molten carbonate fuel cell, and solid oxide fuel cell. Evolution of the modern DMFC is intimately linked to the development of the modern low-temperature PEFC. The chapter shows efforts in DMFC research include minimizing methanol crossover through the separator of DMFCs while maintaining high proton conductivity, developing methanol tolerant oxygen reduction catalysts, and identifying more cost-effective methanol oxidation catalysts. It explores a survey of performance data and examples of target system requirements listed by government agencies are used to give a sense of the state of the art.
