Q.Fuel cells are also used in cell phones and laptop computers. The cell proposed for use in these products is direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). Collect information of this cell.

Step 1. A DMFC works on the same general fuel-cell principle as the H2-O2 cell of section 5.11.1 -- a fuel is oxidised at the anode and an oxidant is reduced at the cathode, generating electricity continuously as long as fuel is supplied.

Step 2. The key difference is the fuel itself: instead of hydrogen gas, a DMFC uses liquid methanol (CH3OH) fed directly to the anode.

Step 3. Because methanol oxidation is chemically more sluggish than hydrogen oxidation, DMFC anodes typically use a platinum-ruthenium catalyst (rather than plain platinum) to achieve a workable reaction rate; the anode reaction produces CO2 along with H+ ions and electrons.

Step 4. At the cathode, oxygen (from air) is reduced to water, with H+ ions reaching the cathode through a proton-exchange membrane, similar in principle to the ion transport described for other cells in this chapter. …

Apply the general fuel-cell principle already established for the H2-O2 cell to methanol as the fuel, using standard/general electrochemistry knowledge about D …

• Presenting invented specific performance numbers (voltage, efficiency percentages) for DMFCs that are not part of the source textbook and not safely general knowledge -- …