2005 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
| Project/Area Number |
13134101
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Review Section |
Science and Engineering
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| Research Institution | Tokyo Institute of Technology |
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Principal Investigator |
YAMAZAKI Yohtaro Tokyo Institute of Technology, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Professor, 大学院総合理工学研究科, 教授 (50124706)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
TATSUMI Takashi Chemical Resources Laboratory, Professor, 資源化学研究所, 教授 (30101108)
KANAMURA Kiyoshi tokyo metropolitan university, graduate school of urban environmental science, Professor, 大学院工学研究科, 教授 (30169552)
NAKAGAWA Nobuyoshi Gunma University, Faculty of Engineering, Assistant Professor, 工学部, 助教授 (70217678)
KITAMURA Fusao Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Associate Professor, 大学院総合理工学研究科, 助教授 (00224973)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2001 – 2005
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| Keywords | DMFC / METHANOL / ETHANOL / CROSSOVER / POREFILLING MEMBRANE / COMPOSITE MEMBRANE / ANION EXCHANGE MEMBRANE / MEMS |
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| Research Abstract |
The fuel cells for liquid alcohol fuels are studied intensively. Alcohols are more suitable for fuels than hydrogen because we easily store and transport. In this project direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) and direct ethanol fuel cells are mainly investigated in order to support the efforts to develop their practical use. First the factors preventing the practical use of DMFCs are summarized as: (1) low efficiency for power generation, (2) low power density, (3) high material cost, (4) too large for portable applications, (5) toxicity of methanol. Then the basic 5 approaches were designed to solve the problems. They are : (1) reduction of the methanol cross over, (2) development of a high current density electrode and high temperature electrolyte materials, (3) reduction of the platinum loading on the DMFC electrodes, and development of new catalysis without containing precious metals, (4) development of MEMS fuel cells for miniaturization, (5) studying direct ethanol fuel cells.
The fo
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llowing solutions for the 5 problems were obtained as the result of this project. (1) A new type of membrane namely the pore-filling membrane was developed, and its MEA gives high performance with high concentration methanol fuel (around 10M). (2) A novel DMFC with a porous carbon substrate was developed to reduce the methanol cross over, and the single cell showed a high I-V performance even at high methanol concentration (as high as 17M). (3) APt/SnOx catalyst was synthesized on a well controlled surface of carbon nano-tubes by self-organization. Such nano-structure is promising for the reduction of Pt loading in DMFCs. (4) Novel micro DMFCs based on MEMS technology were designed and fabricated. This technology reduces the number of the components in a DMFC and reduces the assembly cost as well as reduces their sizes. (5) A direct ethanol fuel cell is studied and the behavior of the acetaldehyde which is an intermediate product in the anode reaction was investigated. The knowledge obtained in this analysis contributes to the realization of direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs). Less
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Research Products
(11 results)
