Abstract
In this paper, a hierarchical cathode catalytic layer (CCL) composed of Pt/C and Fe-N-C was proposed to mitigate severe methanol crossover in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). Several validation experiments and electrochemical analysis were conducted to reveal that the reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by Fe-N-C via Fenton reaction in an incomplete four-electron transfer in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) can be utilized to oxidize methanol nearby Pt/C efficiently, thus protecting ORR active sites from poisoning in concentrated methanol solution. Based on this strategy, the optimized DMFC outputs a high peak power density of 22.5 mWcm−2 at 10 M methanol, which is among the highest performance achieved merely by CCL design. Additionally, the reaction of ROS with methanol is confirmed to protect the Fe-N-C CCL from the potential attack of ROS, leading to a great stability of the DMFC. This work is of great practical significance for the design of DMFCs with high specific energy density and good stability for portable application.
Published Version
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