Issues
Platinum-based catalysts are expensive, so practical exploitation of ethanol as fuel for a PEM fuel cell requires a new catalyst. New nanostructured electrocatalysts (HYPERMEC by ACTA SpA for example) have been developed, which are based on non-noble metals, preferentially mixtures of Fe, Co, Ni at the anode, and Ni, Fe or Co alone at the cathode. With ethanol, power densities as high as 140 mW/cm² at 0.5 V have been obtained at 25 °C with self-breathing cells containing commercial anion-exchange membranes. This catalyst does not contain any precious metals. In practice tiny metal particles are fixed onto a substrate in such a way that they produce a very active catalyst.
A polymer acts as electrolyte. The charge is carried by the hydrogen ion (proton). The liquid ethanol (C2H5OH) is oxidized at the anode in the presence of water, generating CO2, hydrogen ions and electrons. Hydrogen ions travel through the electrolyte. They react at the cathode with oxygen from the air and the electrons from the external circuit forming water.
Bio-Ethanol based fuel cells may improve the well-to-wheel balance of this biofuel because of the increased conversion rate of the fuel cell compared to the internal combustion engine. But real world figures may be only achieved in some years since the development of direct methanol and ethanol fuel cells is lagging behind hydrogen powered fuel cells.
Read more about this topic: Direct-ethanol Fuel Cell
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