Material Aspects of the Design and Operation of Direct Borohydride Fuel Cells

Cheng, Hua; Scott, Keith; Lovell, Keith V.

doi:10.1002/fuce.200500260

Cited by 75 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…It has been reported that the cathode kinetics is more efficient when using oxygen instead of air [24]. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that carbonate is formed due to the presence of CO 2 in air, which exerts a negative effect on the fuel cell performance [10,24]. Although DBFCs using air do not yield as good a performance as those using oxygen, it is desirable to develop DBFCs with air as the oxidant, simply because it is readily available in nature and may avoid the use of extra equipment and gas supply.…”

Section: Cell Performance Of Dbfcs Using Oxygen or Air As The Oxidantmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Performance Study of Direct Borohydride Fuel Cells Employing Polyvinyl Alcohol Hydrogel Membrane and Nickel‐Based Anode

Choudhury

Sahai

et al. 2011

Fuel Cells

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A direct borohydride fuel cell (DBFC) employing a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel membrane and a nickel‐based composite anode is reported. Carbon‐supported platinum and sputtered gold have been employed as cathode catalysts. Oxygen, air and acidified hydrogen peroxide have been used as oxidants in the DBFC. Performance of the PVA hydrogel membrane‐based DBFC was tested at different temperatures and compared with similar DBFCs employing Nafion® membrane electrolytes under identical conditions. The borohydride–oxygen fuel cell employing PVA hydrogel membrane yielded a maximum peak power density of 242 mW cm–2 at 60 °C. The peak power densities of the PVA hydrogel membrane‐based DBFCs were comparable or a little higher than those using Nafion® 212 membranes at 60 °C. The fuel efficiency of borohydride–oxygen fuel cell based on PVA hydrogel membrane and Ni‐based composite anode was found to be between 32 and 41%. The cell was operated for more than 100 h and its performance stability was recorded.

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Section: Cell Performance Of Dbfcs Using Oxygen or Air As The Oxidantmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(9)(10)(11) As a result, the theoretical potential of the overall cell reaction increases to 3.01 V:…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

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Performance Study of Direct Borohydride Fuel Cells Employing Polyvinyl Alcohol Hydrogel Membrane and Nickel‐Based Anode

Choudhury

Sahai

et al. 2011

Fuel Cells

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“…Chronoamperometry results demonstrated a fast signal response, and the sensitivity was determined as 1.56 ± 0.13 μA/100 μM based on the present disk electrode. The use of sodium borohydride in portable power systems has attracted increasing interest in hydrogen and fuel cell applications [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] since Amendola et al developed a direct borohydride fuel cell (DBFC) with high power density 17 and a portable hydrogen generator using borohydride hydrolysis.18 Theoretically, sodium borohydride has the capability of transferring 8 electrons per molecule at a low electrode potential of −1.24 V SHE theoretically providing a high specific energy of 9,296 Wh kg −1 (based on 1.64 V cell voltage corresponding to oxygen reduction at the cathode). However, the spontaneous hydrolysis of sodium borohydride, (which is the objective in a hydrogen generator) reduces the Faradic efficiency in practical DBFC applications.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The electron transfer number indicated in the Fig. 1 Gold, which has generally been described in the literature as inactive for the hydrolysis of borohydride and the oxidation of hydrogen, [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] was first proposed in 1991 as an electrode for the determination of borohydride concentration. 31 There is no other reference reporting the electrochemical detection of borohydride.…”

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Electrochemical Detection of Sodium Borohydride in Alkaline Media by Gold Electrode

Hou

Ellis

Moore

2012

Electrochem. Solid-State Lett.

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Direct borohydride fuel cells (DBFC) are emerging as a promising technology for portable power. The characteristics of a gold electrochemical sensor for detecting borohydride concentration were investigated. Although gold is not Faradically efficient for the borohydride oxidation, the peak current obtained from cyclic voltammetry (CV) showed a linear relationship in the investigated range of 0.1 mM-50 mM borohydride concentration with a detect limitation of 50 μM, suggesting the same charge transfer mechanism within the investigated concentration range. Chronoamperometry results demonstrated a fast signal response, and the sensitivity was determined as 1.56 ± 0.13 μA/100 μM based on the present disk electrode. The use of sodium borohydride in portable power systems has attracted increasing interest in hydrogen and fuel cell applications [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] since Amendola et al. developed a direct borohydride fuel cell (DBFC) with high power density 17 and a portable hydrogen generator using borohydride hydrolysis.18 Theoretically, sodium borohydride has the capability of transferring 8 electrons per molecule at a low electrode potential of −1.24 V SHE theoretically providing a high specific energy of 9,296 Wh kg −1 (based on 1.64 V cell voltage corresponding to oxygen reduction at the cathode). However, the spontaneous hydrolysis of sodium borohydride, (which is the objective in a hydrogen generator) reduces the Faradic efficiency in practical DBFC applications. Although the use of alkaline media with pH > 12 or at least the ratiocan be employed to suppress hydrolysis, 19 hydrogen evolution is still observed at the electrode surface during the electrochemical oxidation of sodium borohydride. 3,20,21 The direct electrochemical oxidation of sodium borohydride, is complex as illustrated in Figure 1, which shows only the boron related species, electrons and hydrogen involved in the reactions. The scheme in Fig. 1 is generally applicable to the chemicalelectrochemical (CE) and/or direct electrochemical oxidation on catalytic metals, i.e. Pt. 20,[22][23][24][25] For a multi-electron transfer process, a stepwise mechanism is usually followed, which means the hydrolysis of intermediates will possibly further decrease the number of electrons transferred. The electron transfer number indicated in the Fig. 1 Gold, which has generally been described in the literature as inactive for the hydrolysis of borohydride and the oxidation of hydrogen, [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] was first proposed in 1991 as an electrode for the determination of borohydride concentration. 31 There is no other reference reporting the electrochemical detection of borohydride. Very recently, it was found that gold is not a faradically efficient electrocatalyst for the electrochemical oxidation of borohydride (i.e., electron transfer number, n ∼ 4-6 at room temperature in 1 M NaOH).25, 32 Here we investigate whether gold, in spite of its limited faradaic efficiency, can be used as an electrochemical sensor...

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The Direct Borohydride Fuel Cell

Abahussain¹,

León²,

Arenas³

2021

Encyclopedia of Electrochemistry

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Fuel cells are clean power sources for both large‐scale and portable applications, as they provide a viable method for converting the chemical energy of fuel directly into electrical energy. The most developed FC is the H 2 ‖O 2 system, which uses hydrogen as fuel. However, there are some issues with the use of hydrogen, such as sourcing, safety of handling, and storage. Direct borohydride fuel cells address some of these concerns. They consist of both fuel, which is oxidized at the anode, and hydrogen peroxide (or O 2 ), which is reduced at the cathode. Their many advantages, such as high theoretical specific energy (up to 17 kWh kg −1 ) and high theoretical cell voltage (up to 3.02 V), have attracted increasing interest. Borohydride is also available in solid state (NaBH 4 ) or as an aqueous electrolyte up to 30 wt%, where it remains with a half‐life of around 270 days at pH 13.9 (25 °C) in a strong alkaline solution. Borohydride FCs can operate under ambient conditions and in an air‐free environment, which makes them convenient for portable and anaerobic applications. The main challenge to their commercialization is the selectivity of the anode catalysts and their substrate materials. Many publications have investigated noble metals (e.g. platinum, gold, palladium) as candidate materials, but none have found yet an anode catalyst able to meet the needs of both high catalytic activity toward oxidation and low activity toward its hydrolysis. Several improving strategies are being investigated.

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Material Aspects of the Design and Operation of Direct Borohydride Fuel Cells

Cited by 75 publications

References 31 publications

Performance Study of Direct Borohydride Fuel Cells Employing Polyvinyl Alcohol Hydrogel Membrane and Nickel‐Based Anode

Performance Study of Direct Borohydride Fuel Cells Employing Polyvinyl Alcohol Hydrogel Membrane and Nickel‐Based Anode

Electrochemical Detection of Sodium Borohydride in Alkaline Media by Gold Electrode

The Direct Borohydride Fuel Cell

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