Activity of Platinum/Carbon and Palladium/Carbon Catalysts Promoted by Ni2P in Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells

• Ethanol is an alternative fuel for direct alcohol fuel cells, inwhich the electrode materials are commonly based on Pt orPd. Owing to the excellent promotion effect of Ni2P that wasfound in methanol oxidation, we extended the catalyst systemof Pt or Pd modified by Ni2P in direct ethanol fuel cells. TheNi2P-promoted catalysts were compared to commercial catalystsas well as to reference catalysts promoted with only Ni oronly P. Among the studied catalysts, Pt/C and Pd/C modifiedby Ni2P (30 wt%) showed both the highest activity and stability.Upon integration into the anode of a homemade direct ethanolfuel cell, the Pt-Ni2P/C-30% catalyst showed a maximumpower density of 21 mWcm-2, which is approximately twotimes higher than that of a commercial Pt/C catalyst. The Pd-Ni2P/C-30% catalyst exhibited a maximum power density of90 mWcm-2. This is approximately 1.5 times higher than thatof a commercial Pd/C catalyst. The discharge stability on bothtwo catalysts was also greatly improved over a 12 h dischargeoperation.

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NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Atom- och molekylfysik och optik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics (hsv//eng)

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