Understanding underlying processes in formic acid fuel cells

Abstract

Obsolescence, defined as the process of declining performance of buildings, is a serious threat for the value, the usefulness and the life span of built properties. Thomsen and van der Flier (2011) developed a model in which obsolescence is categorised on the basis of two distinctions, i.e. between endogenous and exogenous cause-effect relationships and between physical and behavioural cause-effect relationships. In this way, the model presents a classification of underlying factors of obsolescence. However, these underlying factors, more specifically the underlying cause-effect relations, are still a black box. In this paper, the box is further disclosed by tracking back the underlying processes, resulting in a series of prototypes of detailed hypothetic cause-effect mechanisms. Applied to the adapted model, the results are initially tested on an iconic chocolate factory. Conclusions are drawn about the results and more generally about the usability and the further development of the model.

An experimental study on the placement of reference electrodes in alkaline polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

“…When the two REs located at the equal potential positions in Figure 3 cell impedance spectra (sum of the impedance spectra listed above) were equal to the measured whole cell impedance spectra (simultaneously recorded between the anode and cathode using the 2-electrode method), apart from small discrepancies at high frequencies ( .15 is also consistent with previous studies [20,21] that showed that the sum of the anode and cathode impedance spectra vs. the same RE was equal to the impedance spectrum of the cell.…”

An air-breathing microfluidic formic acid fuel cell with a porous planar anode: experimental and numerical investigations

“…The electrooxidation of formic acid to carbon dioxide CO 2 on a metal surface is accepted to take place via a dual path mechanism, dehydrogenation and dehydration [17]. In the current model, the direct pathway is assumed to be the dominant oxidation of formic acid as indicate in (1).…”

“…It is to note that the electrooxidation of formic acid on Pt and selected Pt-group metal surfaces is a dual pathway mechanism. Adsorbed carbonate monoxide can be produced at the formic acid dehydration pathway which is a poisoning intermediate and can block the dehydrogenation pathway, which is the direct path for generating active intermediate of H + and releasing electrons [16,17]. Since Pt-Ru has a significant increase in the rate of formic acid electrooxidation [16], catalyst ink was prepared using 10 mg/cm 2 of Pt-Ru 20:20 atom wt% alloy (E-TEK) and 1.5 mg/cm 2 of Nafion (5 wt% Nafion 5112, DuPont).…”

The effect of pH on the electrocatalytic oxidation of formic acid/formate on platinum: A mechanistic study by surface-enhanced infrared spectroscopy coupled with cyclic voltammetry

“…The direct formic acid fuel cell (DFAFC) is a promising power source [1][2][3][4]. Owing to this technological importance, electrooxidation of formic acid (HCOOH) taking place at the anode catalyst in DFAFC has been studied intensively, especially in acidic media.…”