Study of direct type ethanol fuel cells

Understanding the electrocatalytic activity of PtxSny in direct ethanol fuel cells

“…This could be attributed to the fact that the strong adsorption of acetaldehyde onto the Pt surface almost completely inhibits the hydrogen adsorption. Additionally, the adsorbed coverage on the catalyst can reach a limited value which is sufficient to hinder the further C-C bond breaking and CO ad formation but without influencing the partial electrooxidation of acetaldehyde to acetic acid [35,36].…”

A genetically optimized kinetic model for ethanol electro-oxidation on Pt-based binary catalysts used in direct ethanol fuel cells

“…ω CO 2 = (q 6 + q 7 ) δ acl (20) ω CH 4 = q 8 δ acl (21) ω W = −q 3 δ acl (22) where the subscript W denotes water. With this notation, positive (or negative) values of ω k indicate net production (or consumption) of species k. Multiplying the area specific reaction rates, q r δ acl , by the number of electrons transferred in each reaction, n r , adding the resulting electron generation rates all together and multiplying by Faraday's constant provides the current density generated at the anode catalyst layer i = F (q I + 2q II + q III + 2q 1 + q 2 + q 3 + q 6 + 5q 7 − q 8 ) δ acl (23) Note in particular the relevant role of Reaction 7, which releases 5 electrons and therefore may have a significant impact on the total current density generation even for moderately low values of q 7 .…”

“…Nowever, the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) is slower and significantly more complex than the methanol oxidation reaction. The EOR proceeds through a multi-step reaction process that involves adsorbed species like acetyl (CH 3 CO ads ) and carbon monoxide (CO ads ), and leads to a variety of oxidation products such as acetaldehyde (CH 3 CHO), acetic acid (CH 3 COOH), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), and methane (CH 4 ) [4,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19], and in smaller amounts ethyl acetate, ethane, ethylene glycol, formic acid and others [12,[20][21][22]. The major oxidation products of ethanol on Pt electrodes are indeed acetaldehyde and acetic acid, not carbon dioxide [23], making the incomplete oxidation of ethanol one of the main unresolved problems in direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFC).…”

Temperature effect on the electrode kinetics of ethanol oxidation on Pd modified Pt electrodes and the estimation of intermediates formed in alkali medium

“…The low molecular weight liquid fuels such as methanol [1][2][3] and ethanol [4][5][6] have advantages over pure hydrogen, because these alcohols can easily be handled, stored and transported using the present gasoline infrastructure with only slight modifications and can be used directly without the necessity of reforming. Furthermore, their energy densities are comparable to that of gasoline, varying from 6.1 kWh kg −1 for methanol to about 8.01 kWh kg −1 for ethanol.…”