A low-cost, high-performance zinc–hydrogen peroxide fuel cell

Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) are primarily limited by the distance they can travel, charge time and cost. Here we report a catalyst-free, high-performance zinc–hydrogen peroxide fuel cell that consists of a redox flow cell with the respective redox couple at the anode (V(II)/V(III)) and cathode (V(IV)/V(V)) regenerated by the fuel (zinc) and the oxidant (hydrogen peroxide). Unlike batteries that have low capacities and need to be frequently charged, the present fuel cell enables future vehicles to travel farther distances on one charge and almost instantaneous charge time. More importantly, it is demonstrated that this novel fuel cell exhibits an extraordinarily high peak power density of 1192 mW cm−2 at 60 °C, a performance which is about five times higher than that of state-of-the-art conventional fuel cells of the kind (265 mW cm−2). Another striking feature of the present fuel cell is that it does not require catalysts, allowing the power pack to be both cost-effective and durable. These important features make the present fuel cell a promising post lithium-ion technology, opening a sustainable way to propel next-generation vehicles.