Acetol as a high-performance molecule for oxidation in alkaline direct liquid fuel cell

Abstract

This work describes acetol as fuel for electrochemical oxidation in direct alkaline liquid fuel cells, in addition to electrochemical studies for acetol oxidation reactions (AOR) in alkaline medium, catalyzed by nanostructured palladium electrocatalysts supported on carbon (Pd/C). The AOR’s were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry and the results were similar those described in the literature for oxidation of small organic molecules, revealing evident oxidation peaks and chronoamperometric currents. Experiments were performed in an alkaline direct liquid fuel cell (ADLFC), using acetol as fuel and electrocatalysts of the Pd/C type as anode. The results in ADLFC showed high values of open circuit potential (OCP), obtaining 1341.3 mV, considerably higher than the results reported in the literature for ethanol oxidation, in addition to a promising power density, in the maximum result of 31.55 mW cm−2, presenting acetol as a high-performance molecule for oxidation in the ADLFC.