Direct Methanol–Air Fuel Cell with Nanoporous Proton-Conducting Membrane Reaches Cell Power of 0.5 W/cm2

Fuel cells are attracting considerable attention for possible applications in portable electronics, distributed energy, and transportation. Direct methanol fuel cells composed of nanoporous proton conducting membranes can be used for these applications because of their lower cost, higher conductivity, higher water permeation under hydraulic pressure, and lower fuel crossover as compared with a commercial counterpart, a Nafion membrane. In the December 2004 issue of Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters (p. A507), E. Peled (Tel-Aviv University), M. Rakhman (Israel Plastics and Rubber Center in Haifa), and their colleagues report on the performance of a nanoporous protonconducting membrane (NP-PCM)-based direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) operated with triflic acid instead of sulfuric acid.