Objective
THE DIRECT METHANOL FUEL, OPERATING IN AN ACIDIC ENVIRONMENT, IS BASED ON THE REACTION : CH3OH + 1.502 = CO2 + 2H2O. THE OXYGEN GAS, REACTING AT THE CATHODE, WILL BE SUPPLIED FROM THE AIR. UNFORTUNATELY, THE OXYGEN GAS REACTION IS SLUGGISH. FOR ANY SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION CURRENT THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT LOSS OF POTENTIAL, AS COMPARED WITH THE THEORETICAL VALUE 1.23 V (RHE). THIS LOSS CAN BE REDUCED, BUT NOT ELIMINATED, BY THE USE OF ELECTROCATALYSTS OF WHICH, ESPECIALLY FOR ACID MEDIA, PLATINUM IS BY FAR THE BEST TO DATE. THE MAIN PROBLEM WITH PLATINUM IS THAT OF EXPENSE AND THE MAIN ECONOMIC BENEFIT EXPECTED FROM THE PRESENT PROJECT IS THAT BY MINIMIZING THE USE OF NOBLE METALS THE CAPITAL COST OF THEDMFC WILL BE REDUCED TO A LEVEL AT WHICH SUCH A SYSTEM WILL BE COMMERCIALLY VIABLE FOR CERTAIN CONVENTIONAL APPLICATIONS, E.G. THE REPLACEMENT OF SOME CONVENTIONAL BATTERY SYSTEMS.
IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE WORK WILL RESULT IN IMPROVED POROUS ELECTRODE SYSTEMS, AND BETTER METHODS FOR DISPERSING PLATINUM IN A STABLE ACTIVE FORM IN SAME. SPECIAL ATTENTION WILL BE TAKEN TO REDUCE THE LEVEL OF PLATINUM NECESSARY FOR SUSTAINED ACTIVATION AND SOME ATTENTION WILL BE DEVOTED TO THE POSSIBILITY OF OBTAINING IMPROVED PERFORMANCE BY THE USE OF ALLOY SYSTEMS.ONE OF THE MAIN ADVANTAGES OF THE DMFC IS EXPECTED TO BE ITS ABILITY TO SUPPLY POWER DIRECT AT AMBIENT TEMPERATURE USING A RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE, EASILY STORED FUEL.
THE AIR CATHODE IS AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT IN THE DIRECT METHANOL FUEL CELL (DMFC). THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A PLATINUM (OR PLATINUM ALLOY) ACTIVATED POROUS ELECTRODE SYSTEM FOR OXYGEN REDUCTION FROM AIR SUPPLIED TO ONE SIDE OF THE ELECTRODE. THE ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENT HERE IS TO MINIMIZE THE QUANTITY OF EXPENSIVE ELECTRO-CATALYST NEEDED TO PROMOTE THE REACTION IN QUESTION. THIS WILL BE ACHIEVED BY (A) DISPERSING THE METAL AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE IN A STABLE FORM ON THE SUPPORT, AND (B) RESTRICTING THE METAL, AS FAR AS POSSIBLE, TO THE ACTIVE REGION OF THE POROUS ELECTRODE STRUCTURE. IN A COMPLEMENTARY PROJECT (BONN UNIVERSITY) AN ATTEMPT WILL BE MADE TO DEVELOP ACTIVE ELECTRODES FOR THIS REACTION BASED ON NON-NOBLE METALCATALYSTS : HOWEVER, THE STABILITY OF THE LATTER IN THE ACID ENVIRONMENT OF THE DMFC REMAINS TO BE TESTED. THE PRESENT PROJECT SHOULD, THEREFORE, ENSURE THAT A SATISFACTORY AIR CATHODE OF THE CLASSICAL TYPE SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A FUNCTIONING DMFC. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THIS TYPE OF POROUS ELECTRODE MAY BE OF INTEREST AT THE OTHER SIDE, I.E. AT THE METHANOL ANODE END, OF THE FUEL CELL.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences chemical sciences catalysis electrocatalysis
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry transition metals
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry alcohols
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels fuel cells
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Coordinator
30 CORK
Ireland
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.