Abstrakt

A REVIEW ON THE FUEL CELLS DEVELOPMENT

MANESH B. PATIL, S.L.BHAGAT, R.S. SAPKAL, V.S. SAPKAL

Fuel cells offer a promising alternative to conventional fossil fuel systems, due to their high efficiency, low environmental impact and flexible application. One of the suggested systems for residential, automotive and portable applications is the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), which has a proton conducting polymer membrane as electrolyte. While the fuel used most fuel cells is hydrogen (e.g. in the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell: PEMFC), the DMFC uses methanol as fuel. Fuel cells are attractive for several applications; however, there are several barriers which must be overcome before they can become an alternative to internal combustion engines.