Performance of passive direct formate fuel cells using chitosan as an anode binder

ABSTRACT

In this study, passive anion-exchange membrane (AEM) direct formate fuel cells (DFFCs) were developed and tested. Passive DFFCs consist of a fuel reservoir attached to a Pd-loaded anode, a commercially available AEM, and an air-breathing Pt-loaded cathode. Nafion or chitosan content of 22, 15, 10, or 5 wt% was blended with the anode catalyst ink as electrode binders. The polarization curves of the cells and Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) curves of the anodes were measured under different analyte compositions by mixing HCOOK and KOH with the molarity ranging from 1 M to 7 M at room temperature. The results showed that the ECSA values of the anode increased with the decrease in the binder content regardless of the binder type. The 15 wt% Nafion-based and 5 wt% chitosan-based passive AEM DFFCs fed with fuel containing 3 M HCOOK in 3 M KOH produced the highest maximum power density of 24.9 mW/cm² and 27.5 mW/cm², respectively. Finally, the current output of discharging of the 5 wt% chitosan-based passive AEM DFFCs at 0.4 V for 10 hr showed that providing the cell with more concentrated fuel produced more stable current as the concentrations of HCOOK and KOH are identical.

KEYWORDS:

• Alkaline
• chitosan
• formate
• fuel cells
• passive

Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan and National Science and Technology Council of Taiwan for the funding under the contracts of MOST 108-2628-E-992-001-MY3 and NSTC 111-2622-E-992-018, respectively.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan [NSTC 111-2622-E-992-018-]; Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan [MOST 108-2628-E-992-001-MY3]