A nanofluidic direct formic acid fuel cell with a combined flow-through and air-breathing electrode for high performance

Ortiz-Ortega, E.; Goulet, Marc‐Antoni; Lee, Jin Wook; Guerra‒Balcázar, Minerva; Arjona, Noé; Kjeang, Erik; Ledesma‐García, J.; Arriaga, L.G.

doi:10.1039/c4lc01010h

Cited by 62 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Meanwhile, flow-through porous electrodes have become more prevalent in both experimental [95]- [101] and computational studies [102]- [104], due to their higher surface area and better mass transport characteristics making them advantageous for achieving higher power densities [39]. In addition, a couple of new studies built upon the previous work by Salloum et al [105] and Moore et al [106], to assess the possibility for stacking of multiple cells [100], [107].…”

Section: Table 1 Major Co-laminar Flow Cell Performance Developmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-laminar flow cells for electrochemical energy conversion

Goulet

Kjeang

2014

Journal of Power Sources

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104

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A recently developed class of electrochemical cell based on co-laminar flow of reactants through porous electrodes is investigated. New architectures are designed and assessed for fuel recirculation and rechargeable battery operation.Extensive characterization of cells is performed to determine most sources of voltage loss during operation. To this end, a specialized flow cell technique is developed to mitigate mass transport limitations and measure kinetic rates of reaction on flow-through porous electrodes. This technique is used in in conjunction with cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to evaluate different treatments for enhancing the rates of vanadium redox reactions on carbon paper electrodes. It is determined that surface area enhancements are the most effective way for increasing redox reaction rates and thus a novel in situ flowing deposition method is conceived to achieve this objective at minimal cost. It is demonstrated that flowing deposition of carbon nanotubes can increase the electrochemical surface area of carbon paper by over an order of magnitude. It is also demonstrated that flowing deposition can be achieved dynamically during cell operation, leading to considerably improved kinetics and mass transport properties. To take full advantage of this deposition method, the total ohmic resistance of the cell is considerably reduced through design optimization with reduced channel width, integration of current collectors and reduction of reactant concentration. With electrodes enhanced by dynamic flowing deposition the cell presented in this study demonstrates nearly a fourfold improvement in power density over the baseline design.Producing more than twice the power density of the leading co-laminar flow cell without the use of catalysts or elevated temperatures and pressures, this cell provides a lowcost standard for further research into system scale-up and implementation of co-laminar flow cell technology. More generally, the experimental technique and deposition method developed in this work are expected to find broader use in other fields of electrochemical energy conversion. am also very grateful to my graduate colleagues at SFU and friends in FCRel, with a special mention to Omar in particular, for all the pleasant conversations and good times.I wish there had been more.Last but not least, I'd like to acknowledge all the family and friends I was unable to spend quality time with due to this work. I look forward to seeing you all again.vi Tables Table 1. for their higher specific energy and energy density [6]. For the same reasons, the lower power (< 100 W) market which is driven by portable consumer electronics, is currently 2 dominated by closed cell lithium ion batteries in particular [7]. As these batteries reach their limits and fail to keep up with the energy requirements of modern electronics, micro fuel cells with passively pumped higher energy density liquid reactants such as methanol have been suggested as a potential replacement [8].Regardless...

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Section: Table 1 Major Co-laminar Flow Cell Performance Developmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-laminar flow cells for electrochemical energy conversion

Goulet

Kjeang

2014

Journal of Power Sources

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104

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“…This design was based on a previous report [22,23]. Carbon nanofoam (Marketech International, Inc.) was used as the basis for the threedimensional flow-through electrodes tested in this study.…”

Section: Air-breathing Nanofluidic Fuel Cellmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The second disruptive modification consisted in using micro and nanoporous carbon electrodes in which both streams flow through the electrodes enhancing the electrocatalytic activity (resulting in higher performances) due to the high surface area of the porous electrodes [21]. Nowadays, devices with these characteristics are the most employed for the electrochemical oxidation of several fuels such as formic acid, ethanol, ethylene glycol, and glycerol [22,23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrooxidation of crude glycerol as waste from biodiesel in a nanofluidic fuel cell using Cu@Pd/C and Cu@Pt/C

Maya-Cornejo

Guerra‒Balcázar

Arjona

et al. 2016

Fuel

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“…Nanofluidics is a branch of fluid mechanics that deals with fluid flow and transport phenomena through nanoscale geometries and has lots of applications in medicine, biology, genetics, material science, and energy conversion technologies . Electrokinetic phenomena are wildly used in nanofluidic devices to perform many tasks such as generating flow field in nanochannels , transport of ions , and manipulating DNAs in the nanoconfinements .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An improved hybrid continuum‐atomistic four‐way coupled model for electrokinetics in nanofluidics

2019

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In this study, an efficient hybrid continuum‐atomistic method is proposed to study electrokinetic transport of aqueous solutions in nanofluidics. The aqueous phase is considered as a continuous phase containing immersed ion particles. The behavior of the system is then simulated through utilization of an improved hybrid continuum‐atomistic four‐way coupled approach, including the MultiPhase Particle‐In‐Cell method for the short‐ranged interaction between the ion particles, the Brownian force for the collision between the aqueous phase molecules and the ion particles, and a wall force accounting for the short‐ranged interaction of ions and walls. The validation of the proposed model with the results of Molecular Dynamics simulations suggests that this model can be a promising approach for studying the electrokinetic phenomena in more complicated geometries where the Molecular Dynamics approach is computationally prohibitive. Finally, the effects of electrokinetic parameters, such as the height of the channel, the external electric field, and bulk ionic concentration, on the electroosmotic flow in a nanochannel are investigated and discussed.

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A nanofluidic direct formic acid fuel cell with a combined flow-through and air-breathing electrode for high performance

Cited by 62 publications

References 14 publications

Co-laminar flow cells for electrochemical energy conversion

Co-laminar flow cells for electrochemical energy conversion

Electrooxidation of crude glycerol as waste from biodiesel in a nanofluidic fuel cell using Cu@Pd/C and Cu@Pt/C

An improved hybrid continuum‐atomistic four‐way coupled model for electrokinetics in nanofluidics

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