The Performance of Anionic Ionomers in Direct Methanol Fuel Cells

Anionic fuel cells are of interest due to their possible reduction in platinum usage and facile chemical reactions. In addition, hybrid fuel cells have been investigated. In these cells, a bipolar membrane is used. [1] In both cases, full alkaline and hybrid cell, the formation of the three dimension electrode structure onto the membrane is of critical importance. The three phase boundary in the electrode is constructed from a supported catalyst, ionomer, and solvent cast onto a carbon-based gas diffusion layer. The degree of catalyst utilization is dependent upon the properties and quantity of ionomer used in the catalyst ink. In this study, a number of anion conducting ionomers were investigated in the formation of electrodes operating under alkaline conditions The type of polymer backbone and molecular weight of the polymer were investigated. I