Advances in Mixed‐Reactant Fuel Cells

The mixed‐reactant fuel cell (MRFC) is a new concept, in which a mixture of aqueous fuel and gaseous oxygen (or air) flows directly through a porous anode‐electrolyte‐cathode structure or through a strip‐cell with an anode‐electrolyte‐cathode configuration. These structures can be single cells or parallel stacks of cells and may be in a planar, tubular or any other geometry. Selectivity in the electrocatalysts for MRFCs is mandatory to minimize mixed‐potential at the electrodes, which otherwise would reduce the available cell voltage and compromise the fuel efficiency. MRFC offers a cost effective solution in fuel cell design, since there is no need for gas‐tight structure within the stack and, as a consequence, considerable reduction in sealing, manifolding and reactants delivery structure is possible. In recent years, significant advances have been made in MRFCs, using methanol as a fuel. This paper reviews the status of mixed reactant fuel cells and reports some recent experimental data for methanol fuel cell systems.