title: Membraneless, room-temperature, direct borohydride/cerium fuel cell with power density of over 0.25 W/cm2.
abstract: The widespread adoption and deployment of fuel cells as an alternative energy technology have been hampered by a number of formidable technical challenges, including the cost and long-term stability of electrocatalyst and membrane materials. We present a microfluidic fuel cell that overcomes many of these obstacles while achieving power densities in excess of 250 mW/cm(2). The poisoning and sluggish reaction rate associated with CO-contaminated H(2) and methanol, respectively, are averted by employing the promising, high-energy density fuel borohydride. The high-overpotential reaction of oxygen gas at the cathode is supplanted by the high-voltage reduction of cerium ammonium nitrate. Expensive, ineffective membrane materials are replaced with laminar flow and a nonselective, porous convection barrier to separate the fuel and oxidant streams. The result is a Nafion-free, room-temperature fuel cell that has the highest power density per unit mass of Pt catalyst employed for a non-H(2) fuel cell, and exceeds the power density of a typical H(2) fuel cell by 50%.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Baker Laboratory, Olin Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Da Mota
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Finkelstein
authors.forename: Joseph D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Kirtland
authors.forename: Claudia A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: Abraham D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Stroock
authors.forename: Héctor D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Abruña