An efficient NiFe binary alloy anode catalyst for direct borohydride fuel cells

Abstract

The NiFe-x binary alloy catalysts have been prepared by one-step potentiostatic electrodeposition, while the effects of the introduction of Fe on the morphology, structure, and electrochemical properties have been also investigated sufficiently. The research results indicate that because of the introduction appropriate amount of Fe, the size of the catalyst particles is refined, which is beneficial to increase effective catalytic active sites and enhancement catalytic activity. At the same time, it changes the electron distribution of Ni thereby improving the adsorption to reactants. Moreover, it can also inhibit hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) thus to heighten the catalytic selectivity. When assembled with the NiFe-2 catalyst anode, the direct borohydride fuel cell (DBFC) can provide a peak power density of 540 mW cm−2 and the open circuit voltage (OCV) of 1.87 V at 298 K. We believe that this study may enlighten a new idea for the design and development of efficient noble metal-free anode catalysts of DBFC.