Catalytic Oxidation of Methanol by Aqueous POM on Al₂O₃ Supported Catalysts and Electrochemical Performance of POM

Abstract

Phosphomolybdic acid (H3PMo12O40, POM) was attempted to be used as the energy‐storage agent in this paper to avoid some problems of the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), such as catalyst poisoning and methanol permeation. Catalytic oxidation of methanol by aqueous POM on Al2O3 supported catalysts with Pt and Ru active metal was evaluated in the presence of liquid water. The process takes advantage of the high catalytic activities of platinum for methanol oxidation. The effects of temperature, reaction time, and methanol concentration on activity were observed. The catalytic activity of Pt/Al2O3 is better than that of Ru/Al2O3 for the oxidation of methanol by POM. The methanol conversion rate reached 93.55% on the Pt/Al2O3 at 80 °C after reaction for 1 h. The electrochemical experiments indicate that POM shows a larger current density in redox processes on an Au electrode than methanol. The redox process of reduced POM is a reversible multi‐electron transfer process.

Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Formaldehyde onto Carbon Paste Electrode Modified with Nickel Decorated Nanoporous Cobalt‐Nickel Phosphate Molecular Sieve for Fuel Cell

“…Recently, electrooxidation of single carbon organic substances such as CH 3 OH, HCHO, C 2 H 5 OH, and HCOOH on the surface has been studied on different modified electrodes because these compounds can be used as fuel in fuel cells, which have various advantages such as high energy density, easy portability and pollution‐free specialty and their great potential for utilization as electron donors in fuel cells and generation of high power density 1, 2. Although formaldehyde is toxic and not very suitable for fuel cells, the study of its electrochemical oxidation is important for the full understanding of methanol oxidation because formaldehyde is produced by partial oxidation of methanol 3–5.…”