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Alkaline Membrane Fuel Cells

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Encyclopedia of Applied Electrochemistry

This chapter reviews a new type of solid electrolyte low-temperature fuel cell, the alkaline membrane fuel cell. The principles and main components of this fuel cell technology are described, with a major focus on the electrocatalysts for both electrodes. Finally, the latest published results on operation of the first developed alkaline membrane fuel cells are reviewed.

Introduction

The alkaline membrane fuel cell (AMFC) technology, also referred to as anion exchange membrane fuel cell (AEMFC), is in principle similar to the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), with the main difference that the solid membrane is an anion exchange membrane (AEM) instead of a proton exchange membrane (PEM). With an anion exchange membrane in the alkaline membrane fuel cell, the OH− is being transported from the cathode to the anode, opposite to the H+conduction direction in the proton exchange membrane fuel cell. The schematic diagram below shows this main difference between the proton exchange...

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Dekel, D. (2014). Alkaline Membrane Fuel Cells. In: Kreysa, G., Ota, Ki., Savinell, R.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Applied Electrochemistry. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6996-5_181

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