Performance characteristics of a membraneless solar responsive photocatalytic fuel cell with an air-breathing cathode under different fuels and electrolytes and air conditions
Performance characteristics of a membraneless solar responsive photocatalytic fuel cell with an air-breathing cathode under different fuels and electrolytes and air conditions
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DOI：
10.1016/j.electacta.2015.09.090
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发表时间：
2015-11-10
影响因子：
6.6
通讯作者：
Cheng, Xiao
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Li, Lin;Xue, Shao;Cheng, Xiao
在这项工作中，无膜光催化燃料电池（PFC）与太阳能响应的光阳极和空气呼吸阴极的开发，同时降解废水和发电。为了真实的应用目的，对所开发的PFC的性能特性进行了检验。特别注意调查的燃料和电解质类型对电池性能的影响。实验结果表明，碱性电解液的最大功率密度为4.1mW·cm ~（-2），明显优于中性电解液的最大功率密度0.5mW·cm ~（-2）。长期性能测量还表明，在3小时的恒定电流密度操作中，电池性能在碱性电解质下相当稳定，但在中性电解质下显著降低。关于燃料类型，PFC表现出可观的性能为醇类和醇类。甲醇和甘油产生的最大功率密度分别为4.08和2.58 mW cm（-2），而D-葡萄糖和D-木糖产生的最大功率密度分别为3.92和3.67 mW cm（-2）。电池性能的差异可归因于分子结构的差异，即，分子结构较简单、碳链较短的燃料性能较好。此外，PFCs在人工污水、可口可乐、尿液等复杂废弃物中也表现出良好的降解性能。对于空气呼吸式阴极设计，还研究了氧浓度对PFC性能的影响。结果表明，当氧浓度从5%增加到纯氧时，最大功率密度从3.5 mW·cm ~（-2）提高到5.2 mW·cm ~（-2）。(C)2015爱思唯尔有限公司版权所有。
In this work, a membraneless photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) with a solar responsive photoanode and an air-breathing cathode was developed to simultaneously degrade the wastewater and generate electricity. The performance characteristics of the developed PFC was examined for the real application purpose. Particular attention was paid to investigate the effect of the fuel and electrolyte types on the cell performance. Experimental results showed that the alkaline electrolyte yielded the maximum power density of 4.1 mW cm(-2), which was much better than the neutral electrolyte with the maximum power density of 0.5 mW cm(-2). Long-term performance measurements also showed that the cell performance was rather stable under the alkaline electrolyte but dramatically reduced under the neutral electrolyte in the 3-hour constant current density operation. Regarding the fuel types, the PFC exhibited appreciable performance for both alcohols and saccharides. Methanol and glycerol produced the maximum power densities of 4.08 and 2.58 mW cm(-2), while D-glucose and D-xylose generated the maximum power densities of 3.92 and 3.67 mW cm(-2), respectively. The difference in the cell performance can be attributed to the difference in the molecular structure, i.e., the fuel with a simpler molecular structure and a shorter carbon chain could yield better performance. Besides, the PFCs also showed favorable performances in some complex wastes, such as artificial sewage, Coca Cola and urine. For the air-breathing cathode design, the oxygen concentration effect on the PFC performance was also studied. It was found that increasing the oxygen concentration from 5% to pure oxygen led to the improvement of the maximum power density from 3.5 to 5.2 mW cm(-2). (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.