Protonated iron–phthalocyanine complex used for cathode material of a hydrogen peroxide fuel cell operated under acidic conditions

Abstract

An iron-phthalocyanine complex was utilized as a cathode for constructing a one-compartment hydrogen peroxide fuel cell operated under acidic conditions for the first time. The protonation to the phthalocyanine ligand is crucial to exhibit high activity toward hydrogen peroxide reduction. NafionÒ coating of the anode improved the stability of the fuel cell.A new energy carrier instead of fossil fuels should be developed to realize a sustainable development. [1][2][3][4] Hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) is a potential candidate as a new energy carrier, because it can be produced by the two-electron reduction of oxygen, which is abundant in air, and also by the two-electron oxidation of water that is more abundant on the earth. [5][6][7] In addition, H 2 O 2 has high energy density with none of the environmental problems caused by most other fuels, because H 2 O 2 decomposes to water and oxygen. [5][6][7] In order to use H 2 O 2 as a green energy carrier, two technological issues should be addressed: one is production of H 2 O 2 by utilizing natural energies such as solar, wind, etc.; the other is production of electricity using H 2 O 2 fuel cells. [7][8][9] We have reported that H 2 O 2 can be produced by using electrical power of a photovoltaic solar cell in the presence of Co porphyrins as catalysts under acidic conditions, when the current efficiency reached nearly 100%. 7 H 2 O 2 thus produced can be used in

Hydrogen peroxide as a sustainable energy carrier: Electrocatalytic production of hydrogen peroxide and the fuel cell

“…The theoretical maximum of the output potential of the H 2 O 2 fuel cell is 1.09 V [125–127], which is comparable to those of a hydrogen fuel cells (1.23 V) and a direct methanol fuel cell (1.21 V) [127]. A one compartment H 2 O 2 fuel cell has been constructed by using an Au plate as an anode and an Ag plate as a cathode, because these metal plates act as selective oxidation and reduction catalyst toward H 2 O 2 , respectively [126]. Such a one-compartment structure without membrane is certainly more promising for development of low-cost fuel cells as compared with two compartment fuel cells with membranes.…”

“…A one-compartment H 2 O 2 fuel cell using an iron phthalocyaninato complex can be operated under acidic conditions [126]. The choice of iron porphyrin and analogous compounds for H 2 O 2 reduction is quite reasonable because in natural systems, the reduction of hydrogen peroxide is owing to hydroperoxidases, which contain iron(III)-porphyrins in their active sites [128–130].…”

Lewis Acid-Induced Change from Four- to Two-Electron Reduction of Dioxygen Catalyzed by Copper Complexes Using Scandium Triflate

“…7–15 On the other hand, the catalytic two-electron reduction of O 2 to H 2 O 2 has also attracted increasing interest, because H 2 O 2 is regarded as a promising candidate as a high-density energy carrier as compared with gaseous hydrogen and also H 2 O 2 can be used as a liquied fuel in simple one-compartment fuel cells. 16–18 There have been many reports on the electrocatalytic and homogeneous four-electron reduction of O 2 with copper complexes. 16–24 In contrast, there has been only few examples for the catalytic two-electron reduction of O 2 using a copper complex.…”

High Performance Reduction of H2O2 with an Electron Transport Decaheme Cytochrome on a Porous ITO Electrode

“…7,8 Fukuzumi and co-workers studied the use of different types of iron catalysts for the fabrication of cathodes in H 2 O 2 fuel cells in water. 9,10 …”