Systems of two immiscible liquids for a new type of membraneless fuel cells using renewable fuel

Abstract

Systems of two immiscible liquids are proposed for a new type of membraneless fuel cells using renewable fuel, in which the stationary phase boundary carries out a role of membrane. These systems consist of water, alcohol (preferable ethanol) and a number of electrolytes (salts and bases) leading to the layering of aqueous alcohol. In such systems top phase has significant alcohol content and insignificant electrolyte content, bottom phase has significant electrolyte content and insignificant alcohol content. To study the layering conditions in these systems, binodal curves were plotted for three two-phase liquid systems (EtOH + K2CO3 + H2O; EtOH + K3PO4 + H2O, EtOH + KOH + H2O), using the cloud point method. Comparison of our experimental data with the results of other authors showed that they are consistent for the first and second systems, and the temperature dependence of the binodal curves is clearly visible for the third system. The specific system EtOH – 30 % m/m; KOH – 40 % m/m; H2O – 30 % m/m was taken as the basis for studies of fuel cells based on two immiscible liquids. A further area of research lies in the field of optimizing the composition of both phases, studying the processes of mass transfer in these systems and their physicochemical characteristics.