Small Addition of Boron in Palladium Catalyst, Big Improvement in Fuel Cell’s Performance: What May Interfacial Spectroelectrochemistry Tell?

详细信息    查看全文

• 作者：Kun Jiang ; Jinfa Chang ; Han Wang ; Sylvain Brimaud ; Wei Xing ; R. Jürgen Behm ; Wen-Bin Cai
• 刊名：ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：March 23, 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：8
• 期：11
• 页码：7133-7138
• 全文大小：458K
• ISSN：1944-8252

文摘

Direct formic acid fuel cell (DFAFC) with Pd-based catalyst anode is a promising energy converter to power portable devices. However, its commercialization is entangled with insufficient activity and poor stability of existing anode catalysts. Here we initially report that a DFAFC using facilely synthesized Pd–B/C with ca. 6 at. % B doping as the anode catalyst yields a maximum output power density of 316 mW cm^–2 at 30 °C, twice that with a same DFAFC using otherwise the state-of-the-art Pd/C. More strikingly, at a constant voltage of 0.3 V, the output power of the former cell is ca. 9 times as high as that of the latter after 4.5 h of continuous operation. In situ attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy is applied to probe comparatively the interfacial behaviors at Pd–B/C and Pd/C in conditions mimicking those for the DFAFC anode operation, revealing that the significantly improved cell performance correlates well with a substantially lowered CO accumulation at B-doped Pd surfaces.