Experimental verification of the effect of bridge formation in a direct methanol fuel cell

Recently the effect of formation of a narrow current-carrying domain (bridge) in a direct methanol fuel cell was predicted theoretically. The bridge supports finite local current density under vanishingly small total current in the cell. This effect explains a well-known phenomenon of mixedpotential: the bridge short-circuits the electrodes, thus reducing cell open-circuit voltage. In this work, we report the first experimental confirmation of the new effect. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.