High-throughput discovery and development of carbon supported anode catalysts for direct formic acid fuel cells

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The objective of this project is to discover and develop catalysts for formic acid oxidation that will improvethe power, efficiency and durability of the direct formic acid fuel cells being developed in Canada by ourpartner organization. Formic acid fuel cells offer an attractive alternative to methanol fuel cells for consumerapplications because of their higher power and efficiency, and lower cost and complexity. Their safe fuelcapsules can be quicky replaced so that devices such as mobile phones and notebook PCs can be usedindefinitely without recharging. Formic acid fuel cells also have the potential to be an important component insustainable energy systems, since formic acid can be produced from biomass, or from carbon dioxide usingrenewable energy sources (e.g. solar, wind, hydro), and is much easier to store and transport than hydrogen.One of the main requirements for advances in formic acid fuel cell technology is the development of bettercatalysts. However, the current understanding of the electrochemical oxidation of formic acid is insufficient forprediction of what will be better than the Pd catalysts that are currently used. We therefore propose to combinehigh-throughput screening of Pd alloy catalysts in a multi-anode fuel cell with detailed mechanistic studies,catalyst-layer engineering, and long-term evaluation in fuel cells. The knowledge and understanding gainedfrom the screening and mechanistic studies will guide the development of improved commercial catalysts.