Sangeetha Thangavel, Yan Wei-Mon, Chen Po-Tuan, Yang Cheng-Jung, Huang K David
Department of Energy and Refrigerating Air-Conditioning Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology Taipei 10608 Taiwan.
Research Center of Energy Conservation for New Generation of Residential, Commercial, and Industrial Sectors, National Taipei University of Technology Taipei 10608 Taiwan.
RSC Adv. 2020 Aug 4;10(48):28807-28818. doi: 10.1039/d0ra04454g. eCollection 2020 Aug 3.
Zinc-air flow fuel cells utilizing zinc particles as fuel possess the potential to evolve as efficient distributed grid generators. In this research study, electrochemical impedance analysis was employed to determine the optimum design and operational parameters for the feasible maneuver and enhanced energy generation from zinc fuel cells. Polarization resistance ( ), ohmic resistance ( ), and mass transfer resistance ( ) were used as the indicators for determination of the optimum parameters of fuel cell performance. Experimental conditions optimized from previous studies like potassium hydroxide electrolyte with temperature of 25 °C and concentration of 40 wt% zinc powder quantity of 20 g, electrode reaction surface area of 48 cm were followed in the fuel cells used in the present study. Parameters like collector plate material, air flow velocity and cell operating temperature were augmented and finally were all implemented in the fuel cell and operated. Plain nickel or nickel-plated copper were both advantageous as collector plate materials whereas an air flow velocity ranging from 1-3 m s and a cell operating temperature of 25 °C to 45 °C were beneficial for the stability and performance of the zinc fuel cells. Finally, based on the optimized parameters obtained from the above experiments, performance tests of zinc fuel cells were investigated. The maximum power produced was 16.5 W, along with a corresponding voltage of 0.8 V, maximum current density of 430 mA cm and peak power density of 364.6 mW cm. Thus it can be concluded that the fuel cells designed and operated in this study were capable for feasible and efficient future applications.
以锌颗粒为燃料的锌空气流动燃料电池有潜力发展成为高效的分布式电网发电机。在本研究中，采用电化学阻抗分析来确定锌燃料电池可行运行及提高能量产生的最佳设计和运行参数。极化电阻（ ）、欧姆电阻（ ）和传质电阻（ ）被用作确定燃料电池性能最佳参数的指标。本研究中使用的燃料电池遵循了先前研究优化的实验条件，如使用氢氧化钾电解质，温度为25°C，锌粉浓度为40 wt%，锌粉量为20 g，电极反应表面积为48 cm 。增加了集电板材料、空气流速和电池工作温度等参数，最后将所有参数都应用于燃料电池并进行运行。普通镍或镀镍铜作为集电板材料都具有优势，而1-3 m s的空气流速和25°C至45°C的电池工作温度有利于锌燃料电池的稳定性和性能。最后，基于上述实验获得的优化参数，对锌燃料电池进行了性能测试。产生的最大功率为16.5 W，相应电压为0.8 V，最大电流密度为430 mA cm ，峰值功率密度为364.6 mW cm 。因此可以得出结论，本研究设计和运行的燃料电池能够用于未来可行且高效的应用。
