| Abstract
| - A dual electrolyte H2/O2 fuel cell system employing a planar microfluidic membraneless fuel cell hasbeen investigated and compared to single electrolyte H2/O2 systems under analogous conditions. The fuelis H2 dissolved in 0.1 M KOH (pH 13), and the oxidant is O2 dissolved in 0.1 M H2SO4 (pH 0.9), comprisinga system with a calculated thermodynamic potential of 1.943 V (when 1 M H2 and O2 concentrations areassumed). This value is well above the calculated thermodynamic maximum of 1.229 V for an acid, oralkaline, single electrolyte H2/O2 fuel cell. Experimentally, open-circuit potentials in excess of 1.4 V havebeen achieved with the dual electrolyte system. This is a 500 mV increase in the open circuit potentialsobserved for single electrolyte H2/O2 systems also studied. The dual electrolyte fuel cell system showspower generation of 0.6 mW/cm2 from a single device, which is nearly 0.25 mW/cm2 greater than the valuesobtained for single electrolyte H2/O2 fuel cell systems studied. Microchannels of varying dimensions havebeen employed to study both the single and dual electrolyte H2/O2 systems. Channel thickness variationand the flow rate dependences of power generation are also addressed.
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