Direct glycerol fuel cell with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) thin film separator

Benipal, Neeva; Qi, Ji; Gentile, Jacob C.; Li, Wenzhen

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2016.12.028

Direct glycerol fuel cell with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) thin film separator

Journal Article · Wed Jan 04 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Renewable Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2016.12.028· OSTI ID:1349647

Benipal, Neeva ^[1]; Qi, Ji ^[1]; Gentile, Jacob C. ^[1]; Li, Wenzhen ^[2]

Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)
Ames Lab. and Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)

Here, anion-exchange membrane-based direct glycerol fuel cells (AEM-DGFCs) can yield high power density, however challenges exist in developing chemically stable AEMs. Here, we demonstrate a porous PTFE thin film, a well-known chemical, electro-chemical, and thermal robust material that can serve as a separator between anode and cathode, thus achieving high DGFC’s performance. A simple aqueous-phase reduction method was used to prepare carbon nanotube supported PdAg nanoparticles (PdAg/CNT) with an average particle size of 2.9 nm. A DGFC using a PTFE thin film without any further modification with PdAg/CNT anode catalyst exhibits a peak power density of 214.7 mW cm^–2 at 80 °C, about 22.6% lower than a DGFC using a state-of-the-art AEM. We report a 5.8% decrease and 11.1% decrease in cell voltage for a PTFE thin film and AEM; similarly, the cell voltage degradation rate decreases from 1.2 to 0.8 mV h^–1 for PTFE thin film, while for AEM, it decreases from 9.6 to 3.0 mV h^–1 over an 80 h durability test period. Transmission electron microscopy results indicate that the average particle size of PdAg/CNT increases from 2.9 to 3.7 nm after 80 h discharge; this suggests that PdAg particle growth may be the main reason for the performance drop.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Ames Laboratory (AMES), Ames, IA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-07CH11358

OSTI ID:: 1349647

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1416635

Report Number(s):: IS-J--9253; PII: S096014811631076X

Journal Information:: Renewable Energy, Journal Name: Renewable Energy Journal Issue: C Vol. 105; ISSN 0960-1481

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Related Subjects

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
anion exchange membrane
biomass renewables
direct glycerol fuel cell
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)
porous separator
thin films

Direct glycerol fuel cell with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) thin film separator

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