The Study of Pt and Pd based Anode Catalysis for Formic Acid Fuel Cell

Uwitonze N,Chen Yx

doi:10.4172/2150-3494.1000167

Abstract

Detailed investigation of HCOOH electro-oxidation started about five decades ago, with the advent of modern potentiodynamic techniques, driven initially by the purpose of elucidating some of the most interesting and challenging electrode kinetic problems. Many pioneering works that withstood the test of time and the continuous sophistication of surface electrochemistry techniques were published in the 1960s. Stimulated results were obtained, such as: (i) phenomenological interpretation of anodic polarization curves (e.g., Determination of Tafel parameters), HCOOH oxidation on Pd and Pt catalysts; (ii) discovery of the catalytic effect with respect to Pt and Pd for HCCOH oxidation; (iii) investigation of the potential dependent adsorption of HCOOH on Pt and Pd catalysts which are accompanied by a dual pathway mechanism and (iv) formic acid concentration, temperature effects and crossover of nafion membrane.

Highlights

OverviewThe energy demand in daily life grows very fast, research on new energy sources has attracted most attention in the past few years
Formic acid fuel cell has special features when compare with methanol and hydrogen fuel cells and it is studied widely, due to its high energy conversion rate, fast response rate, be transported and stored, is less poisoning to Pt-based anode catalysts and it is environmental friendly [1,2,3]
From their study, compared with Pt-Ru, the PtAu catalyst showed a higher catalytic activity, and this is confirmed by the results presented in Figure 7 the synthesized catalyst Pt-Au was more stable during a long-term operation of the cell

Summary

Introduction

OverviewThe energy demand in daily life grows very fast, research on new energy sources has attracted most attention in the past few years. Formic acid fuel cell has special features when compare with methanol and hydrogen fuel cells and it is studied widely, due to its high energy conversion rate, fast response rate, be transported and stored, is less poisoning to Pt-based anode catalysts and it is environmental friendly [1,2,3]. Many researchers are stressed to find out the best formic acid fuel cell catalyst. Pt nanoparticles show high catalytic activity on the anodic oxidation reaction of formic acid. The formic acid fuel cell anode catalyst has some challenges, such as high cost, the low catalytic activity, and poisoned by carbon monoxide (CO), which is one of the intermediate products of the fuel cells [4]. In order to handle these issues, some effective methods including incorporating transition metals into Pt, the addition of transition metal oxides and sulfides, using supporting substrate, and replacement of Pt based catalyst by Pd catalyst have been successfully used to reduce the amount of Pt used, enhance catalytic activity and show their excellent electrochemical properties

Objectives

Conclusion