A. K. Shukla, R. K. Raman, N. A. Choudhury, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
Polymer electrolyte fuel cells directly-fueled with aqueous sodium borohydride are referred to as direct borohydride fuel cells (DBFCs). This paper describes a novel DBFC employing hydrogen peroxide as oxidant with a power density of about 350 mW/cm2 at the cell voltage of almost 1.2V at 70oC; the open-circuit-voltage of the DBFC being as high as about 2V. The use of liquid reactants in DBFCs not only simplifies the engineering problems at the front-end of the fuel cell driving down complexity and hence cost but operating a DBFC with an oxidant such as hydrogen peroxide also extends the operational domain of fuel cells to locations where free convection of air is limited, e.g. under-water applications. The DBFCs reported here happen to be cathode limited. Accordingly, in future, as it becomes feasible to realize an effective cathode catalyst for H2O2 reduction, it would be possible to produce fuel cells with voltages near 3V, which would be close to the voltages achieved with any of the advanced lithium cells. Such fuel cells would have the potential to solve the most challenging problem associated with the currently available batteries, namely their limited energy density.
Summary: A direct borohydride fuel cell (DBFC) employing hydrogen peroxide as oxidant with a power density of about 350 mWcm-2 at the cell voltage of almost 1.2V at 70oC is reported. The use of liquid reactants in DBFCs simplifies the engineering problems of fuel cells and facilitates their under water applications.