Effect of Anode Material on Electrochemical Oxidation of Low Molecular Weight Alcohols—A Review

Abstract

The growing climate crisis inspires one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century—developing novel power sources. One of the concepts that offer clean, non-fossil electricity production is fuel cells, especially when the role of fuel is played by simple organic molecules, such as low molecular weight alcohols. The greatest drawback of this technology is the lack of electrocatalytic materials that would enhance reaction kinetics and good stability under process conditions. Currently, electrodes for direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs) are mainly based on platinum, which not only provides a poor reaction rate but also readily deactivates because of poisoning by reaction products. Because of these disadvantages, many researchers have focused on developing novel electrode materials with electrocatalytic properties towards the oxidation of simple alcohols, such as methanol, ethanol, ethylene glycol or propanol. This paper presents the development of electrode materials and addresses future challenges that still need to be overcome before direct alcohol fuel cells can be commercialized.

MoS2/Ni3S2/Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanostructure as an Electrocatalyst for Alcohol Fuel Cells

“…The mechanism of the MOR has been suggested in other literature studies as follows 62,63 In eq 4, methanol is adsorbed on the surface of the catalyst. In this stage, the synergistic effect of adding rGO to the MoS 2 / Ni 3 S 2 can have an efficient role.…”

Electrochemical Methods for Water Purification, Ion Separations, and Energy Conversion

“…In the 1990s, researchers became increasingly aware that the anode material is an especially important consideration in the design and optimization of electrochemical oxidation processes. − (The cathodes are usually stainless steel plates, platinum meshes, or carbon felt electrodes.) The results obtained by several groups indeed demonstrated that the choice of anode influences the selectivity and efficiency of organic compound oxidation. , According to a model proposed by Comninellis, anode materials are divided into active anodes (e.g., carbon, platinum, iridium oxides, ruthenium oxides) and nonactive anodes (e.g., antimony-doped tin oxide, lead dioxide, boron-doped diamond) .…”

Earth‐Abundant Metal‐Based Electrocatalysts Promoted Anodic Reaction in Hybrid Water Electrolysis for Efficient Hydrogen Production: Recent Progress and Perspectives

“…As the simplest form of alcohol, methanol is one of the most popular organic feedstocks owing to its abundant sources and low price. [79][80][81] Methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) has drawn wide attention to produce formic acid and formate which is valuable in pharmaceutical, textile, rubber, and pesticide industries. [79,82] The overall reaction of methanolassisted HWE producing formic acid and H 2 is presented as: CH 3 OH+H 2 O→HCOOH+2H 2 .…”