A 1D+1D model of direct ethanol fuel cells based on an optimized kinetic mechanism for ethanol electro-oxidation involving free and adsorbed intermediate species

A 1D+1D model for liquid-feed direct ethanol fuel cells with detailed ethanol electro-oxidation kinetics is presented. One-dimensional convective transport along the flow channels is coupled to a one-dimensional description for species transport across the MEA accounting for the effect of the electrochemical reactions and the mixed potential due to ethanol and acetaldehyde crossover. The model, validated against previous experimental data, provides the variation of the concentrations of the free species and the output and parasitic current densities along the flow channels. The downstream evolution of ethanol and acetaldehyde affects the anode reaction rates and the ethanol and acetaldehyde crossover fluxes, which in turn impacts on the cathode reaction rates. Polarization curves obtained at different positions along the flow channels show the effect of ethanol consumption and acetaldehyde upstream production and downstream consumption. Power density, parasitic current, fuel utilization and product selectivity curves are presented and discussed for different ethanol feed concentrations and flow rates.