With the rising demand for portable electronics, the production of energy through catalytic micro-scale combustion of hydrocarbon fuels is becoming increasingly attractive. Our previous work has demonstrated spherical platinum nanoparticles (dp ~6.7 nm) as an effective catalytic material to sustain and control combustion in a microreactor. Catalytic platinum nanoparticles were shown to ignite methanol-air mixtures at room temperature without requiring any external ignition sources. In this study, an integrated microcombustor-thermoelectric device was designed and fabricated to incorporate a cordierite-based substrate for hosting platinum catalytic nanoparticles. The device was operated in a cyclic catalysis mode by repeated introduction of methanol-air mixtures into the reactor block. Combustion behavior as a function of reactor temperature was monitored along with the power production characteristics of thermoelectrics. Upon optimization of the operational regimes, the results provide the necessary data for developing a highly compact power source based on catalytic combustion technology.

Investigating a platinum nanocatalytic combustion power source

245th National Meeting (2013)

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