Ethylene-vinyl acetate binder-based carbon-supported Pt Anode empowered by potassium borohydride fuel for direct borohydride fuel cells: defining strategies to achieve ambient long-endurance performance.

A direct borohydride fuel cell (DBFC) is constructed using ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) binder-based carbon-supported Pt anode and KBH4 as fuel under hybrid cell configuration to overcome various problems and to achieve long-endurance performance. Multiphase electrochemical processes strongly depend on the structure and properties of an electrode surface, i.e., multiple-phase electrochemical interfaces. The reactions of the multiphase processes can be varied by changing an electrode surface. Upon variation of the surface, its hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties can be changed. DBFC utilizes a hydrophilic Pt/C anode and Pt-Co-Cr/C cathode with Nafion®(N115) membrane. KBH4 is used as a fuel instead of NaBH4 to achieve a lower fuel crossover and a better cathode performance. A peak power density of 41–42 mW cm−2 is achieved with air as an oxidant and anolyte as KBH4 (5 wt%) in KOH (20 wt%) at ambient temperature at a feed rate of 20 mL min−1. The DBFC delivers a stable voltage and power output with a current density of around 83 mA cm−2 and a voltage of around 0.50 V over a run time of 160 h with multiple start-stop cycles (in a 16 h single go run). This study proves the applicability of DBFC as an efficient and reliable power source for portable device applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]