Effect of Nafion loading and the novel flow field designs on innovative anode electrocatalyst for improved Direct Methanol Fuel cells performance.

• Anode electrocatalysts Pt-NiTiO 3 /C has been synthesized using wet chemical method. • Performance evaluation 5 cm2 DMFC in par with commercial Pt/C and PtRu/C. • An optimum Nafion concentration of 0.5 mg/cm2 gave the highest performance. • Sinuous flow field shows a higher stability than traditional serpentine design. Efficiency of a Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) not just merely depends on the catalyst, but also on the flow channels, physical/electrochemical kinetics, Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) preparation and other operating parameters. This article is focused on the influence of novel flow field design and the effect of Nafion loading during MEA preparation on the performance of DMFC. A novel Pt/NiTiO 3 was used as the anode electrocatalyst in the DMFC. The results show a 27.8% & 5.1% increment in cell performance due to changes in Nafion loading and flow field designs, respectively. A Nafion loading of 0.5 mg/cm2 and the sinuous flow field gave the highest performance. Thus, Pt-NiTiO 3 /C performed to be an encouraging anode catalyst with the new sinuous flow field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]