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Volume 13
Issue 9
10.3390/pr13092757
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Improving Performance of a Passive Direct Methanol Fuel Cell by Hydrophobic Treatment for Cathode Current Collector

by
Xiaozhong Shen
1,2,*,†,
Weibin Yu
3,†,
Zihao Zhang
3,
Lu Lu
1,
Weiqi Zhang
3,
Huiyuan Liu
3,
Huaneng Su
3,
Lei Xing
4 and
Qian Xu
1,3,*
1
Jiangsu Provincial Engineering Research Center of Key Components for New Energy Vehicle, Wuxi Vocational Institute of Commerce, Wuxi 214153, China
2
Library & School History Museum, Wuxi Vocational Institute of Commerce, Wuxi 214153, China
3
Institute for Energy Research, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
4
Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Processes 2025, 13(9), 2757; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13092757
Submission received: 25 July 2025 / Revised: 21 August 2025 / Accepted: 25 August 2025 / Published: 28 August 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion Technologies)
Versions Notes

Abstract

This study employs hydrophobic modification of the current collector to optimize cathode water management and enhance the performance of passive DMFCs. The surface of the cathode current collector was hydrophobized by polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) coating and titanium dioxide/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite coating. The experimental results showed that the surface hydrophobic treatment significantly improved the cell performance at low methanol concentration and marginally improved the cell performance at high methanol concentration. Among them, the DMFC with bilayer TiO2/PDMS hydrophobic-treated cathode current collector with a contact angle of 153.2° showed the best performance, which achieved superhydrophobicity and led to a peak power density that was 27.25% higher compared to the DMFC with an untreated current collector. With the gradient-based hydrophobic treatment for the cathode current collector, the best performance was achieved when double-layer TiO2/PDMS was used on the MEA side and PTFE coating on the air side.
Keywords: direct methanol fuel cell; current collector; hydrophobic treatment; contact angle direct methanol fuel cell; current collector; hydrophobic treatment; contact angle

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MDPI and ACS Style

Shen, X.; Yu, W.; Zhang, Z.; Lu, L.; Zhang, W.; Liu, H.; Su, H.; Xing, L.; Xu, Q. Improving Performance of a Passive Direct Methanol Fuel Cell by Hydrophobic Treatment for Cathode Current Collector. Processes 2025, 13, 2757. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13092757

AMA Style

Shen X, Yu W, Zhang Z, Lu L, Zhang W, Liu H, Su H, Xing L, Xu Q. Improving Performance of a Passive Direct Methanol Fuel Cell by Hydrophobic Treatment for Cathode Current Collector. Processes. 2025; 13(9):2757. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13092757

Chicago/Turabian Style

Shen, Xiaozhong, Weibin Yu, Zihao Zhang, Lu Lu, Weiqi Zhang, Huiyuan Liu, Huaneng Su, Lei Xing, and Qian Xu. 2025. "Improving Performance of a Passive Direct Methanol Fuel Cell by Hydrophobic Treatment for Cathode Current Collector" Processes 13, no. 9: 2757. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13092757

APA Style

Shen, X., Yu, W., Zhang, Z., Lu, L., Zhang, W., Liu, H., Su, H., Xing, L., & Xu, Q. (2025). Improving Performance of a Passive Direct Methanol Fuel Cell by Hydrophobic Treatment for Cathode Current Collector. Processes, 13(9), 2757. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13092757

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