Fuel Cell design with breathable - conductive membrane without Platinum catalyst

Cell casting under vacuum with glass sheets producing less than 0.5 micron thick graphite coating onto modified PTFE substrate is comparable to that of fuel cells using a Platinum catalyst.

Tests have shown that by using the membrane at elevated ambient temperatures of 170oC and a voltage range of 120-200 VDC pulsed (quenched), acts as both electrode and catalyst and is comparable to similar tests undertaken with Platinum and other noble metals at lower temperatures.

This new doped material allows O2 exchanges from water vapour (steam) but is totally impervious to water droplets in the process.

The new fuel cell design allowed ionic exchanges through the membrane for 24 hours continuous with water as the fuel source.

Further tests are required to increase and collect oxygen from water using pure nickel electrodes in a simultaneous process wherein a potassium hydroxide (KOH) electrolyte has shown to produce pure oxygen at the cathode thereby providing a higher volume of hydrogen in the presence of the new membrane at the anode. The reverse is also true as with the graphite coated membrane/electrode above, which also produces clean oxygen at the anode without reversing polarity.