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Sodium Percarbonate Based, Mixed‐Media Fuel Cells Supported on Paper with Gold/Nickel Oxide Catalysts
Author(s) -
Verma Rajat,
Lal Sweta,
Deepa Melepurath,
Janardhanan Vinod M.,
Sahu Kirti Chandra
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
chemelectrochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.182
H-Index - 59
ISSN - 2196-0216
DOI - 10.1002/celc.201600511
Subject(s) - catalysis , nickel , nickel oxide , oxide , mixed oxide , fuel cells , inorganic chemistry , chemistry , materials science , chemical engineering , metallurgy , organic chemistry , engineering
Self‐pumping T‐shaped mixed‐media paper‐based fuel cells are prepared for the first time by using sodium percarbonate as the fuel, KMnO 4 as the oxidant, and a proton‐conducting gel as the electrolyte. Whatman filter papers serve as porous supports for the fluid (catholyte and anolyte) streams. The cell architecture with the Au/NiO (with 11 wt % Au) composite as the catalyst deposited at both electrodes delivers high current and power densities of 5.6 mA cm −2 and 2.6 mW cm −2 , respectively. With this catalyst, the maximum current and power densities are enhanced by 75 and 121 %, respectively, as compared to the case without catalyst. Impedance analysis shows that ohmic and polarization resistances can be reduced significantly by use of the Au/NiO (with 11 wt % Au) composite as the catalyst. The ability of this cell to revive and restore its original performance once both the open‐circuit voltage and current density have decayed clearly demonstrates the applicability of this robust, easily disposable cell for powering micro‐/nanodevices.