Modeling the anodic half-cell of a low-temperature coal fuel cell.
Modeling the anodic half-cell of a low-temperature coal fuel cell.
复制标题
对低温煤燃料电池的阳极半电池进行建模。
DOI:
10.1002/anie.200501192
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发表时间:
2005
期刊:
影响因子:
--
通讯作者:
Whitesides,GeorgeM
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
Weibel,DouglasB;Boulatov,Roman;Lee,Andrew;Ferrigno,Rosaria;Whitesides,GeorgeM
5m H2SO4 at 1008C. The reaction proceeds with a maximum rate constant of 8 10À4 cm sÀ1,[1] which is 15–160 times greater than those reported previously.[2, 3] We used this reaction in the anode compartment of a prototype of a coal fuel cell that operated at 1008C and at atmospheric pressure with VO2+ as the model oxidant. The cell produced a maximum current (power) density of 5 A (0.6 W) per liter of a slurry of electrolyte and coal, and 100 mA (11 mW) at the scale at which we carried out experiments (19 mL). Attempts to develop a process for generating electricity directly from the oxidation of coal date back to the late 19th century.[4] Recent work on coal-powered fuel cells has been motivated by two facts: 1) the worldwide reserves of coal significantly exceed those of other fossil fuels,[5] and 2) the environmental benefits of converting coal into electricity directly in a fuel cell rather than by generating steam in turbines have been perceived as significant.[6] The oxidation of carbon electrochemically has a large activation energy (26 kcal molÀ1),[7] and proceeds at room temperature at detectable rates only at an overpotential of greater than 1 V. Two strategies have been used to overcome the intrinsically slow kinetics of the oxidation of carbon in a coal fuel cell. One strategy is to oxidize a carbonaceous fuel (eg, graphite) electrochemically at high temperatures (> 6008C)—the majority of recent research on coal fuel cells has been based on this approach.[2, 7–9] Molten carbonates are typically used as electrolytes in high-temperature cells; molten hydroxides, borates and silicates, and solid oxides have also been used. One of the most advanced examples of a direct carbon–air fuel cell operated at 6308C for 500h with molten KOH/NaOH as the electrolyte, a graphite anode that also served as the fuel, and a Fe–Ti alloy as the cathode at which O2 was reduced. The cell produced current and power densities of 30 ALà1 (270 mA cmÀ2 of anode) and 2.5 WLÀ1 (0.12 W cmÀ2 of anode), respectively.[10] The high operating temperature of this class of cells tends to result in their corrosion, particularly in the presence of oxygen.[10] Other technical problems with these cells include: 1) the high resistivity of molten salts (up to 100 Ωcm);[11] 2) the consumption of carbon by reaction with CO2 to produce CO;[7] and 3) the clogging of cells by ash and other components of the fuel that are not oxidized.[9] The high resistivity and poor mechanical stability of carbon fuels such as bituminous coal make them impractical as consumable anodes in coal fuel cells—the use of coal slurries in molten electrolytes requires vigorous stirring.[6] Zecevic et al. have argued that high-temperature coal fuel cells cannot be made practical because of these problems.[10] An alternative strategy for overcoming the slow kinetics of the direct electrochemical oxidation of coal is based on the observation that several transition-metal ions, including FeIII, SnIV, CuII, and CeIV, oxidize coal slurries with an activation energy of 7–16 kcalmolÀ1, which is significantly lower than that for the direct electrooxidation of coal.[12, 13] Although the electrolysis of coal slurries in the presence of transition-metal ions has been studied extensively,[2, 3, 12, 13] we are not aware of any coal-powered fuel cells that use a secondary redox couple (eg, FeIII/FeII). This type of cell—in which metal ions would be reduced by the coal and reoxidized at the anode electrochemically—has been considered impractical because of the