IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v239y2022ipbs036054422102346x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Enhanced gas removal and cell performance of a microfluidic fuel cell by a paper separator embedded in the microchannel

Author

Listed:
  • Lan, Qiao
  • Ye, Dingding
  • Zhu, Xun
  • Chen, Rong
  • Liao, Qiang

Abstract

The generated gas bubbles in microfluidic fuel cells (MFCs) cover the active surface area of the electrode and greatly limit the cell performance. In this study, a feasible approach is proposed to effectively accelerate bubbles removal and enhance cell performance by embedding a paper separator in the middle of the microchannel. Visualization of bubble behaviors and the corresponding electrochemical measurements are performed to investigate the effect of bubbles on the cell performance. Periodical process of the bubble growth and removal leads to the fluctuation in the current density of the MFC. The rapid gas removal and the low ohmic resistance are observed after embedding a layer of filter paper in the microchannel, causing improved fuel transfer and smaller ohmic loss. Although the current density fluctuates more frequently, the fluctuation amplitude decreases and the cell performance is enhanced. Compared with the MFC without paper separator, the maximum power density and the limiting current density of the MFC with paper separator is increased by 25.2% and 130%, respectively. Moreover, the cell performance is improved with increasing the flow rate of reactant solution and the peak power density achieves 25.9 mW cm−2 under flow rate of 1500 μL min−1.

Suggested Citation

  • Lan, Qiao & Ye, Dingding & Zhu, Xun & Chen, Rong & Liao, Qiang, 2022. "Enhanced gas removal and cell performance of a microfluidic fuel cell by a paper separator embedded in the microchannel," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PB).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:239:y:2022:i:pb:s036054422102346x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2021.122098
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036054422102346X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2021.122098?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li, Li & Fan, Wenguang & Xuan, Jin & Leung, Michael K.H. & Zheng, Keqing & She, Yiyi, 2017. "Optimal design of current collectors for microfluidic fuel cell with flow-through porous electrodes: Model and experiment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 413-424.
    2. Xuan, Jin & Leung, Michael K.H. & Leung, Dennis Y.C. & Wang, Huizhi, 2012. "Towards orientation-independent performance of membraneless microfluidic fuel cell: Understanding the gravity effects," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 80-86.
    3. Chen, Jingxian & Xu, Peihang & Lu, Jie & Ouyang, Tiancheng & Mo, Chunlan, 2021. "A prospective study of anti-vibration mechanism of microfluidic fuel cell via novel two-phase flow model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    4. Sun, Hong & Yu, Mingfu & Li, Qiang & Zhuang, Kaiming & Li, Jie & Almheiri, Saif & Zhang, Xiaochen, 2019. "Characteristics of charge/discharge and alternating current impedance in all-vanadium redox flow batteries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 693-701.
    5. Wang, Yifei & Leung, Dennis Y.C., 2016. "A circular stacking strategy for microfluidic fuel cells with volatile methanol fuel," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 659-669.
    6. Xuan, Jin & Leung, D.Y.C. & Wang, Huizhi & Leung, Michael K.H. & Wang, Bin & Ni, Meng, 2013. "Air-breathing membraneless laminar flow-based fuel cells: Do they breathe enough oxygen?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 400-407.
    7. Yuan, Wei & Wang, Aoyu & Ye, Guangzhao & Pan, Baoyou & Tang, Kairui & Chen, Haimu, 2017. "Dynamic relationship between the CO2 gas bubble behavior and the pressure drop characteristics in the anode flow field of an active liquid-feed direct methanol fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 431-443.
    8. Zhang, Hao & Xuan, Jin & Xu, Hong & Leung, Michael K.H. & Leung, Dennis Y.C. & Zhang, Li & Wang, Huizhi & Wang, Lei, 2013. "Enabling high-concentrated fuel operation of fuel cells with microfluidic principles: A feasibility study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 1131-1137.
    9. Wang, Yifei & Leung, Dennis Y.C. & Zhang, Hao & Xuan, Jin & Wang, Huizhi, 2017. "Numerical and experimental comparative study of microfluidic fuel cells with different flow configurations: Co-flow vs. counter-flow cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 535-548.
    10. Li, Li & Nikiforidis, Georgios & Leung, Michael K.H. & Daoud, Walid A., 2016. "Vanadium microfluidic fuel cell with novel multi-layer flow-through porous electrodes: Model, simulations and experiments," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 729-739.
    11. Jin-Cherng Shyu & Po-Yan Wang & Chien-Liang Lee & Sung-Chun Chang & Tsung-Sheng Sheu & Chun-Hsien Kuo & Kun-Lung Huang & Zi-Yi Yang, 2015. "Fabrication and Test of an Air-Breathing Microfluidic Fuel Cell," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-15, March.
    12. Zeng, Tao & Zhang, Caizhi & Zhou, Anjian & Wu, Qi & Deng, Chenghao & Chan, Siew Hwa & Chen, Jinrui & Foley, Aoife M., 2021. "Enhancing reactant mass transfer inside fuel cells to improve dynamic performance via intelligent hydrogen pressure control," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    13. Wang, Yifei & Leung, Dennis Y.C. & Xuan, Jin & Wang, Huizhi, 2015. "A vapor feed methanol microfluidic fuel cell with high fuel and energy efficiency," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 456-465.
    14. Ouyang, Tiancheng & Lu, Jie & Zhao, Zhongkai & Chen, Jingxian & Xu, Peihang, 2021. "New insight on the mechanism of vibration effects in vapor-feed microfluidic fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    15. Braz, B.A. & Oliveira, V.B. & Pinto, A.M.F.R., 2020. "Optimization of a passive direct methanol fuel cell with different current collector materials," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    16. Xuan, Jin & Leung, Michael K.H. & Leung, Dennis Y.C. & Wang, Huizhi, 2012. "Laminar flow-based fuel cell working under critical conditions: The effect of parasitic current," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 87-93.
    17. Li, Li & Zheng, Keqing & Ni, Meng & Leung, Michael K.H. & Xuan, Jin, 2015. "Partial modification of flow-through porous electrodes in microfluidic fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 563-571.
    18. Xu, Hong & Zhang, Hao & Wang, Huizhi & Leung, Dennis Y.C. & Zhang, Li & Cao, Jun & Jiao, Kui & Xuan, Jin, 2015. "Counter-flow formic acid microfluidic fuel cell with high fuel utilization exceeding 90%," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 930-936.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ouyang, Tiancheng & Liu, Wenjun & Liu, Benlong & Hu, Xiaoyi & Shi, Xiaomin, 2023. "Design and optimization of a novel sinusoidal corrugated channel for microfluidic fuel cell with gas-liquid two-phase flow model," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 737-750.
    2. Li, Li & Wang, Hongkang & Bei, Shaoyi & Li, Yuanjiang & Sun, Yanyun & Zheng, Keqing & Xu, Qiang, 2023. "Unsymmetrical design and operation in counter-flow microfluidic fuel cell: A prospective study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PB).
    3. Ouyang, Tiancheng & Lu, Jie & Hu, Xiaoyi & Liu, Wenjun & Chen, Jingxian, 2022. "Multi-dimensional performance analysis and efficiency evaluation of paper-based microfluidic fuel cell," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 94-108.
    4. Li, Li & Xu, Qiang & Xie, Yajun & Wang, Xiaochun & Zhu, Kai & Zheng, Keqing & Li, Xinyu & Huang, Haocheng & Huang, Yugang & Bei, Shaoyi, 2024. "Narrow middle channel design in counter-flow microfluidic fuel cell with flow-through electrodes," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    5. Xu, Jiang-Hai & Zhang, Ben-Xi & Yan, Han-Zhang & Ding, Quan & Zhu, Kai-Qi & Yang, Yan-Ru & Huang, Tai-Ming & Li, Shi & Wan, Zhong-Min & Wang, Xiao-Dong, 2023. "A comprehensive assessment of the hybrid power generation system of PEMFC and internal combustion engine based on ammonia decomposition," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    6. Liu, Wenjun & Sun, Xiuyang & Li, Yinxuan & Tan, Xinru & Ouyang, Tiancheng, 2024. "Designing and multi-evaluation of a promising gas-emission anode for eliminating CO2 accumulation in microfluidic fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 359(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wu, Baoxin & Xu, Xinhai & Dong, Guangzhong & Zhang, Mingming & Luo, Shijing & Leung, Dennis Y.C. & Wang, Yifei, 2024. "Computational modeling studies on microfluidic fuel cell: A prospective review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    2. Muhammad Tanveer & Kwang-Yong Kim, 2021. "Flow Configurations of Membraneless Microfluidic Fuel Cells: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-33, June.
    3. Ouyang, Tiancheng & Lu, Jie & Xu, Peihang & Hu, Xiaoyi & Chen, Jingxian, 2022. "High-efficiency fuel utilization innovation in microfluidic fuel cells: From liquid-feed to vapor-feed," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    4. Ouyang, Tiancheng & Chen, Jingxian & Liu, Wenjun & Xu, Peihang & Lu, Jie & Zhao, Zhongkai, 2022. "A comprehensive evaluation for microfluidic fuel cells from anti-vibration viewpoint using phase field theory," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 676-693.
    5. Wang, Yifei & Leung, Dennis Y.C. & Xuan, Jin & Wang, Huizhi, 2017. "A review on unitized regenerative fuel cell technologies, part B: Unitized regenerative alkaline fuel cell, solid oxide fuel cell, and microfluidic fuel cell," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 775-795.
    6. Wang, Yifei & Leung, Dennis Y.C., 2016. "A circular stacking strategy for microfluidic fuel cells with volatile methanol fuel," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 659-669.
    7. Samir De, Biswajit & Cunningham, Joshua & Khare, Neeraj & Luo, Jing-Li & Elias, Anastasia & Basu, Suddhasatwa, 2022. "Hydrogen generation and utilization in a two-phase flow membraneless microfluidic electrolyzer-fuel cell tandem operation for micropower application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    8. Li, Li & Fan, Wenguang & Xuan, Jin & Leung, Michael K.H. & Zheng, Keqing & She, Yiyi, 2017. "Optimal design of current collectors for microfluidic fuel cell with flow-through porous electrodes: Model and experiment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 413-424.
    9. Chen, Jingxian & Xu, Peihang & Lu, Jie & Ouyang, Tiancheng & Mo, Chunlan, 2021. "A prospective study of anti-vibration mechanism of microfluidic fuel cell via novel two-phase flow model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    10. Wang, Yifei & Leung, Dennis Y.C. & Zhang, Hao & Xuan, Jin & Wang, Huizhi, 2017. "Numerical and experimental comparative study of microfluidic fuel cells with different flow configurations: Co-flow vs. counter-flow cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 535-548.
    11. Wang, Yifei & Luo, Shijing & Kwok, Holly Y.H. & Pan, Wending & Zhang, Yingguang & Zhao, Xiaolong & Leung, Dennis Y.C., 2021. "Microfluidic fuel cells with different types of fuels: A prospective review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    12. Li, Li & Xu, Qiang & Xie, Yajun & Wang, Xiaochun & Zhu, Kai & Zheng, Keqing & Li, Xinyu & Huang, Haocheng & Huang, Yugang & Bei, Shaoyi, 2024. "Narrow middle channel design in counter-flow microfluidic fuel cell with flow-through electrodes," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    13. Liu, Wenjun & Sun, Xiuyang & Li, Yinxuan & Tan, Xinru & Ouyang, Tiancheng, 2024. "Designing and multi-evaluation of a promising gas-emission anode for eliminating CO2 accumulation in microfluidic fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 359(C).
    14. Li, Li & Wang, Hongkang & Bei, Shaoyi & Li, Yuanjiang & Sun, Yanyun & Zheng, Keqing & Xu, Qiang, 2023. "Unsymmetrical design and operation in counter-flow microfluidic fuel cell: A prospective study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PB).
    15. Fu, Ya-Lu & Zhang, Biao & Zhu, Xun & Ye, Ding-Ding & Sui, Pang-Chieh & Djilali, Ned, 2020. "Pore-scale modeling of oxygen transport in the catalyst layer of air-breathing cathode in membraneless microfluidic fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    16. Ouyang, Tiancheng & Lu, Jie & Zhao, Zhongkai & Chen, Jingxian & Xu, Peihang, 2021. "New insight on the mechanism of vibration effects in vapor-feed microfluidic fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    17. Ouyang, Tiancheng & Liu, Wenjun & Liu, Benlong & Hu, Xiaoyi & Shi, Xiaomin, 2023. "Design and optimization of a novel sinusoidal corrugated channel for microfluidic fuel cell with gas-liquid two-phase flow model," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 737-750.
    18. Xu, Hong & Zhang, Hao & Wang, Huizhi & Leung, Dennis Y.C. & Zhang, Li & Cao, Jun & Jiao, Kui & Xuan, Jin, 2015. "Counter-flow formic acid microfluidic fuel cell with high fuel utilization exceeding 90%," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 930-936.
    19. Bamgbopa, Musbaudeen O. & Almheiri, Saif & Sun, Hong, 2017. "Prospects of recently developed membraneless cell designs for redox flow batteries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 506-518.
    20. Lu, Xu & Wang, Yifei & Leung, Dennis Y.C. & Xuan, Jin & Wang, Huizhi, 2018. "A counter-flow-based dual-electrolyte protocol for multiple electrochemical applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 241-248.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:239:y:2022:i:pb:s036054422102346x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.