Recent Progress on Photo‐Promoted Alcohol Electrooxidation for Fuel Cells

Abstract

Alcohol electrooxidation reaction (AOR) is of sluggish kinetics, which as the anodic reaction of direct alcohol fuel cells determines largely the discharging performance of the device. Solar energy as an endless energy source is introduced to promote the AOR kinetics. Herein, the recent progress on photopromoted AOR and the application in fuel cells is reviewed, including 1) design of the AOR photoelectrocatalysts, 2) photoelectrocatalysis mechanism, and 3) fabrication of photo-promoted direct alcohol fuel cells (PDAFCs). Finally, a perspective on the challenges of PDAFCs and new directions in this exciting and still emerging research area are given.

Photoinduced Pt/BiVO4/Bi2O3 Heterostructures for Methanol Oxidation and New Insights on the Photo-/Electrocatalysis Coupling Mechanism

“…Solar energy as an endless power is highly expected to be exploited to promote the efficiency of mass and energy conversions via photocatalysis. − Ignited by the progress in photocatalysis, photoassisted electrocatalysis has gradually become an attractive approach to accelerate the reaction kinetics. − Some reviews have summarized the recent progress in this field. − For photoassisted electrocatalysis, the utilization efficiency of solar energy predominately depends on the efficiencies of light adsorption, photogenerated charge separation/transfer, and surface reaction, which in turn rely mainly on photocatalysts. Theoretically, semiconductors with a valence-band energy more positive than the Nernst potential of MOR are potentially capable of oxidizing methanol.…”

Comprehensive Review of Fuel-Cell-Type Sensors for Gas Detection

“…Thus, to solve the above problems, some new bimetallic catalysts such as Pt–Ru, Pt–Ag, and Pt–Pd have been investigated to improve ethanol gas sensors’ performance. − ,− …”

Alternatives to Water Photooxidation for Photoelectrochemical Solar Energy Conversion and Green H2 Production

“…Moreover, alcohols have been considered as one of the most prominent sacrificial agents, which can result in an increase in PEC activity based on the "current-doubling" effect. [170,171] This phenomenon implies that each one absorbed photon can inject two electrons, thanks to the photogeneration and the intermediate radical formation from alcohols oxidation. When considering PEC approach, it is attributed to the multitimes increase in current density produced in water splitting reaction with the presence of alcohols in the electrolyte.…”

“…[175,177,200] Among the common photocatalysts, Fe 2 O 3 is the widely used semiconductor material for photoanode because of its favorable bandgap to visible-light adsorption and thermodynamical stability, which is promising to catalyze MOR. [171,[200][201][202][203][204] Mesa et al [200] reported a study case of the selective oxidation of CH 3 OH to HCHO based on Si-doped Fe 2 O 3 photoanode with near-unity FE(HCHO) at 96% and only required less 270 mV onset potential than that for water oxidation. The rate of MOR was determined to be the second order in the density of surface holes, indicating the dependency upon the photoanode design (e.g., surface area) and optimum operational light intensities.…”