Mann Jonathan, Yao Nan, Bocarsly Andrew B
Department of Chemistry, Frick Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
Langmuir. 2006 Dec 5;22(25):10432-6. doi: 10.1021/la061200c.
A direct ethanol fuel cell offers an attractive, fairly high density, energy source, if an electrochemical system can be developed that efficiently carries out the 12-electron oxidation of ethanol to carbon dioxide and water. To that end, new catalyst systems must be developed along with fuel cell operating conditions that encourage the complete oxidation of ethanol, as opposed to the presently available platinum on carbon systems that tend to produce acetaldehyde (two-electron oxidation) or acetic acid (four-electron oxidation) products. It is found that a composite nanoparticulate catalyst containing platinum and tin oxide or platinum indium tin oxide allows the partial conversion of ethanol to its 12-electron oxidation products. Catalysts of this type can be formed using a modified polyol process. Elevation of the operating temperature of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell using the indicated catalysts to 130 degrees C facilitates the production of carbon dioxide and provides an improved current-voltage response.
如果能够开发出一种电化学系统，有效地将乙醇进行12电子氧化生成二氧化碳和水，那么直接乙醇燃料电池将提供一种有吸引力的、密度相当高的能源。为此，必须开发新的催化剂体系以及有利于乙醇完全氧化的燃料电池运行条件，这与目前可用的碳载铂体系不同，后者往往会产生乙醛（两电子氧化）或乙酸（四电子氧化）产物。研究发现，一种包含铂和氧化锡或铂铟锡氧化物的复合纳米颗粒催化剂能够使乙醇部分转化为其12电子氧化产物。这种类型的催化剂可以使用改进的多元醇工艺来制备。使用上述催化剂将质子交换膜燃料电池的运行温度提高到130摄氏度，有助于二氧化碳的生成，并提供改善的电流-电压响应。
