Investigation of the performance of a direct borohydride fuel cell with low Pt/C catalyst loading under different operating conditions

Abstract

Fuel cells are promising alternative energy converters in terms of preventing pollution, efficiency, and noise. Direct borohydride fuel cells (DBFCs) which are defined as a sub-class of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and direct liquid fuel cells (DLFC) have increased attention recently since they offer a solution for hydrogen storage problem. However, the commercialization of DBFC is hindered by the need of high platinum loadings. Therefore, reducing the platinum content is crucial to develop cost-effective DBFC without compromising performance. This research focuses on the effects of operational parameters on the DBFC performance with low level Pt/C catalyst loading (anode: 0.32 mg/cm2, cathode: 0.36 mg/cm2). The gas diffusion electrode was prepared by spray-coating technique. The peak power density of 19.95 mW/cm2 was obtained at 80 °C when 1 mL/min was used as a flow rate of fuel.