Study on the characteristics of flowing organization in DMFC. Part I: Model development of cell with conventional symmetrical plates

A two-dimensional, steady-state model of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) with liquid methanol feed was developed. The electrode kinetics, multi-component transport and methanol crossover phenomenon were all considered. The effect of channels disposal density, the influence of backing layer, catalyst layer and polymer electrolyte membrane thickness on mass transfer and cell performance was investigated. The results showed that: with the increase of channels disposal density and the increase of catalyst layer thickness, the equality of reaction rate and cell performance will elevated. The sizes of catalyst layer and membrane effect farthest, the correspondingly optimized work can increase the average current density about 131.0% and 17.8%. There are moderate optimal thickness sizes of backing layer and membrane, and the sizes should be chosen after thinking about the sizes of flow field plate and MEA.