Alkaline fuel cell technology - A review

The realm of alkaline-based fuel cells has with the arrival of anionic exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) taken a great step to replace traditional liquid electrolyte alkaline fuel cells (AFCs). The following review summarises progress, bottleneck issues and highlights the most recent research trends within the field. The activity of alkaline catalyst materials has greatly advanced, however achieving long-term stability remains a challenge. Great AEMFC performances are reported, though these are generally obtained through the employment of platinum group metals (PGMs), thus emphasising the importance of R&D related to non-PGM materials. Thorough design strategies must be utilised for all components, to avoid a mismatch of electrochemical properties between electrode components. Lastly, AEMFC optimisation challenges on the system-level will also have to be assessed, as few application-size AEMFCs have been built and tested.