{"id":5744,"date":"2020-09-11T14:05:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-11T14:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prod.zbt.compositas.io\/news\/projekt-alk2micro-alkalische-direkt-alkohol-brennstoffzellen\/"},"modified":"2025-02-07T14:07:09","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T14:07:09","slug":"project-alk2micro-alkaline-direct-alcohol-fuel-cells","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/news\/project-alk2micro-alkaline-direct-alcohol-fuel-cells\/","title":{"rendered":"Project \"Alk2Micro\" - alkaline direct alcohol fuel cells"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Project “Alk2Micro” – alkaline direct alcohol fuel cells<\/h2>\n
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Within the project “Alk2Micro” we will develop novel alkaline direct alcohol fuel cells for use in small appliances. The project format “Industrial Co-operative Research” allows companies to participate in the project monitoring committee.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The use of a liquid energy source and its combustion in a fuel cell has been a strongly researched area for years. In the “Alk2Micro” project, novel alkaline direct alcohol fuel cells are being developed for use in small appliances. For this purpose, new membranes and electrodes based on anion-exchange ionomers are being developed, which enable a considerably improved power density.<\/p>\n

In contrast to the state of the art, where proton exchange membranes (PEM) are used, AEMs have clear advantages: On the one hand, the critical transfer of alcohol through the membrane can be prevented by new membrane polymers, and on the other hand the catalysis of alcohols to protons in the alkaline is much easier to convert. Since new ionomers for the alkaline fuel cell have only recently been developed and commercialised, these new materials are now being used for the first time in the Alk2Micro project in the alkaline alcohol fuel cell. At Hahn-Schickard, the new membrane electrode units are manufactured and characterised, while ZBT is responsible for scaling up the MEA production and the electrochemical characterisation of the new alcohol fuel cells. A broad project-supporting committee brings together SMEs and companies along the entire value chain of fuel cell manufacturing being involved at Alk2Micro for the ionomer material, the functional coating of the cell components and the electrochemical characterisation.<\/p>\n

The area of application for small mobile devices has been deliberately chosen because the current main applications are covered by PEM fuel cells with low power density (< 100 mW\/cm\u00b2). If the performance targets of > 350 mW\/cm\u00b2 are met, a commercialisation of the cell technology is realistic, which seems to be possible due to the new, more powerful materials.<\/p>\n