Alkaline direct oxidation fuel cell with non-platinum catalysts capable of converting glucose to electricity at high power output

• Published in: Journal of power sources Vol. 196; no. 1; pp. 186 - 190
• Main Authors: An, L., Zhao, T.S., Shen, S.Y., Wu, Q.X., Chen, R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Anion-exchange membrane; Applied sciences; Catalysis; Catalysts; Direct energy conversion and energy accumulation; Direct oxidation fuel cell; Electric power generation; Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering; Electrical power engineering; Electrochemical conversion: primary and secondary batteries, fuel cells; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Enzymes; Equipments for energy generation and conversion: thermal, electrical, mechanical energy, etc; Exact sciences and technology; Fuel cells; Glucose; Membranes; Non-platinum catalyst; Operating conditions; Oxidation; Power density; Power density; Non-platinum catalyst; Glucose; Direct oxidation fuel cell; Anion-exchange membrane; Operating conditions; Alkaline electrolyte fuel cells; High power; Platinum; Oxidation; Anion exchange membrane; Catalyst; Fuel cell
• ISSN: 0378-7753; 1873-2755
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2010.05.069

Glucose is a potential fuel for fuel cells because it is renewable, abundant, non-toxic, and easy in handle and store. Conventional glucose fuel cells that use enzymes and micro-organisms as the catalyst are limited by their extremely low power output and rather short durability. In this work, a direct glucose fuel cell that uses an anion-exchange membrane and in-house non-platinum electrocatalysts is developed. It is shown that this type of direct glucose fuel cell with a relatively cheap membrane and catalysts can result in a maximum power density as high as 38
mW
cm
−2 at 60
°C. The high performance is attributed mainly to the increased kinetics of both the glucose oxidation reaction and the oxygen reduction reaction rendered by the alkaline medium with the anion-exchange membrane.