Fuel cell power source based on decaborane with high energy density and low crossover

Abstract

Decaborane (B10H14) obtains a high energy density, attaining approximately 11,455 Wh/kg. Herein, we studied the fuel cell power source based on B10H14. A proof-of-concept fuel cell feeding on B10H14 obtains a peak power density of 110.82 mW/cm2, which is comparable to the common direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). Besides, the new fuel cell exhibits an open circuit voltage (OCV) of 1.098 V, much higher than that of DMFCs and direct liquid fuel cells (DLFCs) feeding on N2H4, CH3OCH3, HCOOH, etc. It implies that the common Nafion membrane is good enough to effectively suppress the fuel crossover, which is a long pending problem for DMFCs and other DLFCs. It opens a new way in utilizing the chemical energy of B10H14, and develops a new type of fuel cell, which is promising for application in high specific energy mobile power, long endurance unmanned aerial vehicles, etc.