Flexible All‐Solid‐State Direct Methanol Fuel Cells with High Specific Power Density

• Published in: Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) Vol. 19; no. 12; pp. e2205835 - n/a
• Main Authors: Sun, Shanshan, Zhao, Minglin, Wang, Qingwei, Xue, Shujie, Huang, Qinghong, Yu, Nengfei, Wu, Yuping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.03.2023
• Subjects: Assembly; Bends; Clean energy; Commercialization; direct methanol fuel cells; Electrical resistivity; Electronic devices; flexible all‐solid‐state devices; flexible packages; Fuel cells; Lithium-ion batteries; Methanol; Nanotechnology; Portable equipment; Power management; Power sources; solid methanol; TiC‐modified carbon cloth; flexible packages; direct methanol fuel cells; TiC-modified carbon cloth; flexible all-solid-state devices; solid methanol
• DOI: 10.1002/smll.202205835
• ISSN: 1613-6810

It is vital to create flexible batteries as power sources to suit the needs of flexible electronic devices because they are widely employed in wearable and portable electronics. The direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is a desirable alternative portable energy source since it is a clean, safe, and high energy density cell. The traditional DMFC in mechanical assembly and its unbending property, however, prevent it from being employed in flexible electrical devices. In this study, the flexible membrane electrode assembly (MEA) with superior electrical conductivity and nanoscale TiC‐modified carbon cloth (TiC/CC) is used as supporting layer. Additionally, solid methanol fuels used in the manufacturing of flexible all‐solid‐state DMFC have the advantages of being tiny, light, and having high energy density. Furthermore, the DMFC's placement and bending angle have little effect on its performance, suggesting that DMFC is appropriate for flexible portable energy. The flexible all‐solid‐state DMFC's power density can reach 14.06 mW cm−2, and after 50 bends at 60°, its voltage loss can be disregarded. The flexible all‐solid DMFC has an energy density that is 777.78 Wh Kg−1 higher than flexible lithium‐ion batteries, which is advantageous for the commercialization of flexible electronic products. In this study, the flexible membrane electrode assembly (MEA) with superior electrical conductivity and nanoscale TiC modified carbon cloth (TiC/CC) is used as supporting layer. The DMFC's placement and bending angle have little effect on its performance, its power density can reach 14.06 mW cm−2, and after 50 bends at 60°, its voltage loss can be disregarded.