Abstract
Use of liquid fuels in fuel cells is advantageous due to the easier and safer handling, transportation, and storage. Among the different options, hydrazine is of interest since the formation of highly poisoning carbonaceous species is avoided, in addition to its high energy density. In the search for more active direct hydrazine fuel cells (DHFC), this study analyzes the influence of Cu as an auxiliary metal on Pd. Three different PdxCu/C (x = 3, 1, and 0.33) catalysts were prepared by chemical reduction with NaBH4. The materials were physiochemically characterized by X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Electrochemical analysis in a three-electrode glass cell and a single-cell DHFC was also carried out to study the impact on the electroactivity. Cu exerts a beneficial effect by reducing the adsorption energies of the adsorbed species and donating oxidized species for the completion of the hydrazine electro-oxidation, optimally balanced in the Pd1Cu/C (maximum power density of 180 mW cm−2). As a counterpoint, Cu slightly promotes the non-faradaic decomposition of hydrazine, seen by a larger H2 signal in mass spectroscopy in the anode exhaust at high current densities, which results in a slight loss in faradaic efficiency.
Funder
Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
University of Brasilia (calls UnB/DPI/DPP), and Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Distrito Federal
Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos
Subject
Physical and Theoretical Chemistry,Catalysis,General Environmental Science
Reference49 articles.
1. Direct Liquid Fuel Cells: A Review;Ong;Int. J. Hydrogen Energy,2017
2. Liquid Fuel Cells;Soloveichik;Beilstein J. Nanotechnol.,2014
3. Review on Challenges of Direct Liquid Fuel Cells for Portable Application;Venkateswarlu;World J. Eng.,2015
4. Maiyalagan, T., and Saji, V.S. (2017). Electrocatalysts for Low Temperature Fuel Cells, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
5. Corti, H.R., and Gonzalez, E.R. (2014). Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells: Materials, Performance, Durability and Applications, Springer.
Cited by
4 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献