A Sodium-Ion-Conducting Direct Formate Fuel Cell: Generating Electricity and Producing Base.
A barrier that limits the development of the conventional cation-exchange membrane direct liquid fuel cells (CEM-DLFCs) is that the CEM-DLFCs need additional base to offer both alkaline environment and charge carriers. Herein, we propose a Na+-conducting direct formate fuel cell (Na-DFFC) that is operated in the absence of added base. A proof-of-concept Na-DFFC yields a peak power density of 33 mW cm-2at 60 °C, mainly because the hydrolysis of sodium formate provides enough OH-and Na+ions, proving the conceptual feasibility. Moreover, contrary to the conventional chlor-alkali process, this Na-DFFC enables to generate electricity and produce NaOH simultaneously without polluting the environment. The Na-DFFC runs stably during 13 hours of continuous operation at a constant current of 10 mA, along with a theoretical production of 195 mg NaOH. This work presents a new type of electrochemical conversion device that possesses a wide range of potential applications.
Key Laboratory of Thermo-Fluid Science and Engineering of MOE, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, 28 Xianning West Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710049, P.R. China.
Yinshi
Y
Li
Key Laboratory of Thermo-Fluid Science and Engineering of MOE, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, 28 Xianning West Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710049, P.R. China.
Ying
Y
Feng
Key Laboratory of Thermo-Fluid Science and Engineering of MOE, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, 28 Xianning West Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710049, P.R. China.
Xianda
X
Sun
Key Laboratory of Thermo-Fluid Science and Engineering of MOE, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, 28 Xianning West Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710049, P.R. China.
Yaling
Y
He
carbon dioxide; electrochemistry; formate hydrolysis; fuel cells