Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells for Portable Applications: Fundamentals, Engineering and Advances

Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells for Portable Applications: Fundamentals, Engineering and Advances presents the fundamental concepts, technological advances and challenges in developing, modeling and deploying fuel cells and fuel cell systems for portable devices, including micro and mini fuel cells. The authors review the fundamental science of direct alcohol fuel cells, covering, in detail, thermodynamics, electrode kinetics and electrocatalysis of charge-transfer reactions, mass and heat transfer phenomena, and basic modeling aspects. In addition, the book examines other fuels in DAFCs, such as formic acid, ethylene glycol and glycerol, along with technological aspects and applications, including case studies and cost analysis.

Researchers, engineering professionals, fuel cell developers, policymakers and senior graduate students will find this a valuable resource. The book’s comprehensive coverage of fundamentals is especially useful for graduate students, advanced undergraduate students and those new to the field.

Provides a comprehensive understanding of the fundamentals of DAFCs and their basic components, design and performancePresents current and complete information on the state-of-the-art of DAFC technology and its most relevant challenges for commercial deploymentIncludes practical application examples, problems and case studiesCovers the use of other fuels, such as formic acid, ethylene glycol and glycerol

Part I Fundamentals 1. Introduction to Portable Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells 2. Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells Basic Science 3. Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells Basic Modelling 4. Experimental methods of Characterization 5. Other Alcohol Fuel Cells

Part II Technologies and Portable Applications 6. Development of Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells Components 7. Miniaturization of Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells: Microfabrication techniques and Microfluidic Architectures 8. Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells Stacks 9. Case Studies – Portable applications of Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells 10. Status and Research trends of Portable Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells Technologies