Aqueous liquid feed organic fuel cell using solid polymer electrolyte membrane

A liquid feed fuel cell, comprising:

• an anode;
• a cathode;
• a solid cation exchange polymer electrolyte membrane disposed between said anode and said cathode;
• means for circulating a liquid organic fuel and water solution past said anode,
• a liquid organic and water fuel solution, said solution being free of sulfuric acid;
• and
• means for flowing oxygen past said cathode.

A liquid feed fuel cell, comprising:

• an anode coated with an amount of hydrophilic proton conducting water-insoluble additive to provide ionic and electronic conductivity, wetting and gas evolving properties to said anode;
• a cathode;
• a cation exchange polymer electrolyte membrane disposed between said anode and said cathode;
• means for flowing a liquid comprising organic fuel and water solution past said anode;
• and
• means for flowing oxygen past said cathode.

A liquid feed fuel cell, comprising:

• a housing having an anode chamber and a cathode chamber;
• a co-polymer of tetrafluoroethylene and perfluorovinylether sulfonic acid polymer electrolyte membrane mounted within said housing and separating said anode and cathode chambers;
• a cathode formed on a side surface of the membrane facing the cathode chamber;
• an anode formed on an opposing side of the membrane facing the anode chamber, said anode being impregnated with co-polymer of tetrafluoroethylene and perfluorovinylether sulfonic acid;
• means for circulating a liquid organic fuel and water solution past said anode;
• means for flowing oxygen past said cathode;
• means for withdrawing carbon dioxide from the anode chamber;
• means for withdrawing unused fuel and water from the anode compartment;
• and
• means for withdrawing unused oxygen and water from the cathode chamber.

A method for fabricating an electrode for use in a fuel cell, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing a bath containing a solution of metallic salts dissolved in sulfuric acid;
• adding perfluorooctanesulfonic acid to said bath;
• positioning a electrode having a carbon structure within said bath;
• positioning an anode within said bath;
• and
• applying a voltage between said anode and said electrode until a desired amount of metal in a range of 0.5-4.0 mg/cm.sup.2 becomes deposited onto said electrode.

A method for fabricating an electrode having metal ions deposited thereon for use in a liquid organic fuel cell, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing a bath comprising a solution of hydrogen hexachloroplatinate and potassium pentachloroaquoruthenium dissolved in sulfuric acid, wherein said hydrogen hexachloroplatinate and potassium pentachloroaquoruthenium has a concentration in the range 0.01-0.05M;
• adding perfluorooctanesulfonic acid to said bath, with a concentration within the range of 0.1-1.0 grams /liter;
• positioning a carbon electrode structure into said bath, wherein said carbon electrode structure has a mixture of carbon particles with a surface area of about 200 meters/gram a polytetrafluoroethylene binder, with the mixture applied to a fiber-based carbon paper;
• positioning a platinum anode into said bath;
• and
• applying a voltage between said anode and said electrode until a desired amount of platinum and ruthenium in the range of 0.5-4.0 mg/cm.sup.2 become deposited onto said electrode.

A liquid feed fuel cell, comprising:

• an anode;
• a cathode;
• a liquid organic fuel, water, acid electrolyte and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid additive solution;
• means for flowing said solution past said anode;
• and
• means for flowing oxygen past said cathode.

A liquid feed fuel cell, comprising:

• an anode;
• a cathode;
• an electrolyte;
• a liquid organic fuel selected from a group consisting of trioxane, dimethoxymethane, and trimethoxymethane;
• means for flowing said liquid organic fuel past said anode;
• and
• means for flowing oxygen past said cathode.