Miniatuarised Fuel Cells from Biomass

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Biomass will be converted into carbon materials with designed particle size and porosity during a hydrothermal process. After synthesis the resulting carbonaceous materials will be pressed or printed into freestanding disks. One of the HTC disk will be then loaded with Fe and N precursor and further carbonised to yield Fe-N sites and become conductive. This will severe as the cathode-GDL of a fuel cell and will be electrochemically evaluated for its ORR ability using a rotating disk set. It will also be tested in a gas diffusion electrode configuration. Another HTC disk will be impregnated with a PtCl2 solution and carbonised to yield Pt nanoparticles supported on conductive carbon. It will be electrochemically tested for its ability to oxidise methanol using a gas diffusion electrode. The Pt/C and Fe-N-C disks will then be assembled at UCL in a real fuel cell configuration with Nafion in the middle and their performance evaluated using polarisation curves and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy.We will thus develop miniaturised fuel cells for remote applications, i.e. powering a medical device in remote areas.