Mixed Potential Driven Self-Cleaning Strategy in Direct Isopropanol Fuel Cells

Abstract

A direct liquid organic hydrogen carrier fuel cell, such as the direct isopropanol fuel cell (DIFC), employs hydrogen to generate electricity through a combined process of dehydrogenation and hydrogen utilization. However, the performance decay of DIFC over time is a critical limitation. While the origin of deactivation and the strategy to overcome it have been investigated, the lack of understanding of the deactivation mechanism remains a significant bottleneck. In this study, cyclic voltammograms conducted in the half-cell (three-electrode system) exhibit a notable variation trend of degradation in isopropyl alcohol (IPA) oxidation depending on the potential window. This variation suggests surface cleaning processes based on acetone removal involving acetone oxidation and reduction, respectively. Based on this trend, a self-cleaning strategy via mixed potential between H 2 oxidation and acetone reduction is designed to remove poisoned acetone in the DIFC full-cell (two-electrode system). The enhanced durability observed in the modified DIFC, fueled by H 2 -saturated IPA, validates the self-cleaning process of the electrocatalyst in the anode, suggesting the feasibility of applying the mixed potential concept to enhance durability in full-cell systems.

Recent Advances of PtCu Alloy in Electrocatalysis: Innovations and Applications

“…PtCu alloy electrocatalysis is not only adept at facilitating water splitting to produce hydrogen through the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] but also demonstrates versatility across a wide range of emerging electrocatalytic applications in recent years. Notably, PtCu catalysts play a pivotal role in alcohol oxidation reactions (AOR), which is a key conversion process in direct alcohol fuel cells [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. Moreover, the advantages of PtCu alloys were demonstrated in nitrogen reduction [37], ammonia oxidation [38], nitrate reduction [39][40][41], and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) [42][43][44][45], underscoring the versatility and effectiveness of PtCu alloys in addressing a wide array of environmental and energy challenges.…”