Direct Ethanol Fuel Cell (DEFC)

One of the major drawbacks of the DMFC is that the low-temperature oxidation of methanol to hydrogen ions and carbon dioxide requires a more active catalyst, which typically means a larger quantity of expensive platinum catalyst is required than in conventional PEMFCs. This increased cost is, however, expected to be more than outweighed by the convenience of using a liquid fuel and the ability to function without a reforming unit. Since methanol is supposed to be toxic some companies have embarked on using ethanol to substitute for methanol. More than 30% of world ethanol production is from corn, the rest is produced from suger based raw material like juices of sugarcane or beet and also their molasses. There are other grains used in the production of ethanol which is rice, wheat, rye, sorghum or tubers like cassava / tapioca. Cellulosic biomass, holds tremendous promise as a feedstock for ethanol production due to its widespread availability and potential for high fuel yields. Examples of sources for celluosic ethanol include corn stover , wheat and barley straw, sugarcane or rice bagasse, sawdust, paper pulp, small diameter trees and dedicated energy crops such as switch grass and other fast growing grasses. Study is still going in making cellulosic ethanol more viable. Hence developing a Direct Ethanol Fuel Cell (DEFC) has gained importance. The performance of the DEFC is currently about half that of the DMFC, but this gap is expected to narrow with further development.