Refill and Recharge Smart Portable Micro-Devices by Direct Methanol Fuel Cells: Developed with PVA Based Modified Electrolyte Membranes

Easy refill and recharge battery cells is direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). To overcome the commercialization issues of DMFCs, we prepared four types of Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) based membranes using the solution casting method for DMFCs application. The composition of the membranes was 1) Pure Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA), 2) PVA/Polyethylene Glycol (PEG), 3) PVA/PEG/SiO2 nanoparticles, and 4) PVA/PEG/Clay. We characterized the membranes by FTIR, water uptake, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for surface morphology, ionic conductivity and fuel permeability. Among the four types of composition of the membranes which was investigated, the PVA/PEG/SiO2 membrane shown good balance in water uptake, conductivity and fuel permeability.