Direct Liquid Fuel Cells: Recent Advances and Challenges and the Sustainable Energy Transition

This edited guide to direct liquid fuel cells (DLFCs) provides readers with a detailed discussion of their characteristics, mechanisms, and role in global decarbonization. Expert contributors address various facets including their working mechanisms, sustainability, life cycle assessment, and more. Readers will gain an expansive understanding and benefit from the discussion of various DLFCs. The contributors provide an overview of fuel cells, including their principles and role in global decarbonization, a discussion of DLFCs’ sustainability and environmental impact, and a summary of the current state of knowledge on their different components, considering the importance of sustainable and low carbon emissions. They also address different liquids and their characteristics, such as methanol, ethanol, formic acid and dimethyl ether, and the applications for which each type are best used. Encountered challenges, system design, and commercialization considerations are also discussed, with the conclusion addressing the future outlook and perspectives on DLFCs. In addition to discussing the various types of liquid fuel cells and their respective benefits and drawbacks, contributors provide real-world examples of challenging issues and their respective solutions. This all-inclusive and cross-disciplinary resource is a vital guide for researchers and undergraduate and graduate students studying renewable energy, energy storage and conversion, and decarbonization towards Net Zero.