Electrocatalysis of Direct Methanol Fuel Cells: From Fundamentals to Applications

This first book to focus on a comprehensive description on DMFC electrocatalysis draws a clear picture of the current status of DMFC technology, especially the advances, challenges and perspectives in the field. Leading researchers from universities, government laboratories and fuel cell industries in North America, Europe and Asia share their knowledge and information on recent advances in the fundamental theories, experimental methodologies and research achievements. In order to help readers better understand the science and technology of the subject, some important and representative figures, tables, photos, and comprehensive lists of reference papers are also included, such that all the information needed on this topic may be easily located.
An indispensable source for physical, catalytic, electro– and solid state chemists, as well as materials scientists and chemists in industry.


Spis treści:
Preface.
List of Contributors.
1 Direct Methanol Fuel Cells: History, Status and Perspectives (Antonino Salvatore Aricò, Vincenzo Baglio, and Vincenzo Antonucci).
1.1 Introduction.
1.2 Concept of Direct Methanol Fuel Cells.
1.3 Historical Aspects of Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Development and State–of–the–Art.
1.4 Current Status of DMFC Technology for Different Fields of Application.
References.
2 Nanostructured Electrocatalyst Synthesis: Fundamental and Methods (Nitin C. Bagkar, Hao Ming Chen, Harshala Parab, and Ru–Shi Liu).
2.1 Introduction.
2.2 Fundamental Understanding of the Structure–Activity Relationship.
2.3 Synthetic Methods of Conventional Carbon–Supported Catalysts.
2.4 Synthetic Methods of Novel Unsupported Pt Nanostructures.
2.5 Conclusions.
References.
3 Electrocatalyst Characterization and Activity Validation – Fundamentals and Methods (Loka Subramanyam Sarma, Fadlilatul Taufany, and Bing–J oe Hwang).
3.1 Introduction.
3.2 Direct Methanol Fuel Cells – Role of Electrocatalysts.
3.3 Characterization Techniques for Anode and Cathode Catalysts.
3.4 Evaluation of Electrocatalyst Activity, Electrochemical Active Surface Area, Catalyst – Adsorbate Interactions, and Activity Validation Techniques.
3.5 Conclusions and Outlook.
References.
4 Combinatorial and High Throughput Screening of DMFC Electrocatalysts (Rongzhong Jiang and Deryn Chu).
4.1 Introduction.
4.2 Common Procedures for the Development of DMFC Catalysts.
4.3 General Methods for Combinatorial and High Throughput Screening.
4.4 Methods of Combinatorial Synthesis.
4.5 Electrode Arrays for High Throughput Screening.
4.6 Other Screening Methods for Catalyst Discovery.
4.7 Combinatorial Methods for DMFC Evaluation and Data Analysis.
4.8 Challenge and Perspective.
References.
5 State–of–the–Art Electrocatalysts for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (Hanwei Lei, Paolina Atanassova, Yipeng Sun, and Berislav Blizanac).
5.1 Introduction.
5.2 Electrocatalysis and Electrocatalysts for DMFC.
5.3 DMFC Electrocatalyst Characterization and Evaluation.
5.4 DMFC Performance Advancement via MEA Design.
5.5 Prospects for DMFC.
5.6 Conclusions.
References.
6 Platinum Alloys as Anode Catalysts for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (Ermete Antolini).
6.1 Introduction.
6.2 Phase Diagram vs. Activity: New Chances for DMFC Anodes.
6.3 Preparation Methods of Pt Alloys.
6.4 Activity Evaluation of Pt Alloys.
6.5 Stability of Pt–Ru Catalysts in DMFC Environment.
6.6 Conclusions.
References.
7 Methanol–Tolerant Cathode Catalysts for DMFC (Claude Lamy, Christophe Coutanceau, and Nicolas Alonso–Vante).
7.1 Introduction.
7.2 Thermodynamics and Kinetics of the Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR).
7.3 Experimental Details.
7.4 S ynthesis and Characterizations of Nanostructured Catalysts for the ORR.
7.5 Catalyst Tolerance in the Presence of Methanol.
7.6 Summary and Outlook.
References.
8 Carbon Nanotube–Supported Catalysts for the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (Chen–Hao Wang, Li–Chyong Chen, and Kuei–Hsien Chen).
8.1 Introduction.
8.2 Preparation of Carbon Nanotube–Supported Catalysts.
8.3 Characteristics of the Carbon Nanotube Electrode.
8.4 Electrochemical Behavior of Carbon Nanotube–Supported Catalysts.
8.5 Direct Growth of Carbon Nanotubes as Catalyst Supports.
8.6 Conclusion.
References.
9 Mesoporous Carbon–Supported Catalysts for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (Chanho Pak, Ji Man Kim, and Hyuk Chang).
9.1 Introduction.
9.2 Mesoporous Carbon.
9.3 Mesoporous Carbon–Supported Catalyst.
9.4 Fuel Cell Performance of Mesoporous Carbon–Supported Catalyst.
9.5 Summary and Prospect.
References.
10 Proton Exchange Membranes for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (Dae Sik Kim, Michael D. Guiver, and Yu Seung Kim).
10.1 Introduction.
10.2 Synthesis of Polymer Electrolyte Membranes for DMFC.
10.3 Conclusions.
References.
11 Fabrication and Optimization of DMFC Catalyst Layers and Membrane Electrode Assemblies (Liang Ma, Yunjie Huang, Ligang Feng, Wei Xing, and Jiujun Zhang).
11.1 Introduction.
11.2 Components for DMFC Catalyst Layer Optimization.
11.3 Catalyzed DMFC Electrode Structure and Fabrication Process.
11.4 Other Electrode Fabrication Methods for DMFCs.
11.5 Summary.
References.
12 Local Current Distribution in Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (Andrei A. Kulikovsky and Klaus Wippermann).
12.1 Introduction.
12.2 Model.
12.3 The Bifunctional Regime of DMFC Operation.
12.4 Direct Methanol–Hydrogen Fuel Cells (DMHFCs).
12.5 Bifunctional Activation of DMFC.
12.6 Conclusi ons.
12.7 List of symbols.
References.
13 Electrocatalysis in the Direct Methanol Alkaline Fuel Cell (Keith Scott and Eileen Yu).
13.1 Introduction.
13.2 History of Alkaline Methanol Fuel Cells.
13.3 Electrocatalysis of Methanol Oxidation in Alkaline Media.
13.4 Oxygen Reduction and Methanol Tolerant Electrocatalysts.
13.5 Direct Methanol Fuel Cells in Alkaline Media.
13.6 Direct Alkaline Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells.
13.7 Alkaline Fuel Cells with other Direct Liquid Fuels.
13.8 Conclusions.
References.
14 Electrocatalysis in Other Direct Liquid Fuel Cells (Sharon L. Blair and Wai Lung (Simon) Law).
14.1 Introduction.
14.2 Electrocatalysis of Direct Formic Acid Fuel Cells.
14.3 Electrocatalysis of Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells.
14.4 Electrocatalysis of Direct Hydrazine Fuel Cells.
14.5 Other Direct Liquid Fueled Fuel Cells.
14.6 Summary.
References.
Index.

Nota biograficzna:
Hansan Liu is a Research Associate at the National Research Council of Canada Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation. He obtained his PhD in electrochemistry from Xiamen University in 2003, before completing two postdoctoral terms at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2003–2004) and the NRC–IFCI (2005–2007). Dr. Liu has over ten years of research experience in the field of electrochemical energy conversion and storage, covering Ni–MH and lithium ion batteries, solar energy devices, DMFCs, and PEMFCs. His current research interests include fuel cell electrocatalysis, electrode materials of rechargeable batteries and supercapacitors, photoelectrocatalytical materials, and aerosol techniques for nanomaterial synthesis. He has published over thirty papers in peer–reviewed journals, co–edited a fuel cell book, and written four book chapters relating to fuel cells and batteries. He also has three US patents and eight industrial technical reports