Investigation of Ti mesh-supported anodes for direct borohydride fuel cells

Abstract

The use of titanium mesh-supported gold and silver anodes in direct borohydride fuel cells (DBFCs) is reported. The anodes were prepared by either thermal decomposition or electrochemical deposition and were characterised by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses. The performance of the mesh electrodes was compared with that for carbon-supported electrodes. The mesh anodes gave current densities, for borohydride oxidation, up to 50% greater and cell power densities up to 20% greater than those obtained with carbon-supported anodes. The effects of catalyst loading and fuel cell operating conditions are also reported. Electrode stability was examined over a prolonged period.

Developments in direct borohydride fuel cells and remaining challenges

“…% (1.32 mol dm À3 ) NaBH 4 in 10 wt. % (2.5 mol dm À3 ) NaOH [33,34]. The highest peak power density of 89.6 mW cm À2 was obtained using Pd/C as the anode catalyst, followed by Au/Ti (around 80 mW cm À2 ) and Au/C (72.2 mW cm À2 ).…”

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy study of borohydride oxidation reaction on gold—Towards a mechanism with two electrochemical steps

“…It is worth noting that the composition of the electrolyte solution influences both the homogeneous hydrolysis of BH 4 − (it increases at low pH and high borohydride concentration) and the electrochemical/chemical processes at the electrode (BH 4 − electrooxidation and heterogeneous hydrolysis) [17,20,22,[25][26][27][28]. Although many Pt and non-Pt electrocatalysts have been studied so far [8,16,17,[29][30][31][32], only Os [33] and possibly Pt [19,23] apparently present both high electrocatalytic activity (mandatory to enable fast BOR kinetics) and high faradaic efficiency. The latter can be obtained provided the intermediates of the NaBH 4 heterogeneous hydrolysis do prevent a sufficient residence time at the vicinity of the electrode surface [23].…”

Application of Nanometals Fabricated Using Green Synthesis in Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy

“…[22] One means of achieving shape control is by using a static template to enhance the growth rate of one crystallographic phase over another. [23] The organic surfactants may be undesired for many applications, and a relatively high temperature is needed to decompose the material. [24] Unfortunately, such thermal treatment generally induces dramatic growth of nanoparticles such that ultrafine nanoparticles free of templating and stabilizing agents could not be obtained [25] Lately, novel and simple methods to prepare metal oxides with controllable morphologies by simply varying the hydrolytic conditions have been reported.…”