Control of hydrogen release during borohydride electrooxidation with porous carbon materials

Abstract

Due to their highly tunable electrical and structural properties, carbon materials are widely used in fuel cells. This study reviews the latest modifications carried out in order to improve the electrochemical properties of carbon-based anodes in Direct Borohydride Fuel Cell (DBFC). However, in this type of fuel cell, various types of carbon (e.g. carbon black, activated carbons, carbon nanotubes, graphene and heteroatom-doped carbons and MOF-derived carbon materials) can provide not only catalyst support, but also hydrogen storage due to the extremely complex process of borohydride electrooxidation. Accurate control of porosity and carbon morphology is therefore necessary for high fuel cell efficiency. Finally, some prospects for the future development of carbon materials for DBFC design are presented. It should be emphasized, that the storage of hydrogen in solid form is a possible breakthrough for the future use of hydrogen as an ecological fuel, which is why scientific research in this topic is so important.