Development of conventional cation-exchange membrane direct liquid fuel cells (CEM-DLFCs) are alternatives to anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMs), however they are similarly hindered by the need of additional base in the fuel stream to obtain an alkaline environment and sufficient charge carriers. Direct formate fuel cells (DFFCs) have currently gained a lot of interest in direct alkaline fuel cells because of their efficiency and relatively fast oxidation kinetics. Moreover, the hydrolysis of formate salts provide enough OH<sup>-</sup> and cations to allow the use of formate in a CEM-DLFC without the addition of base. In addition to generating electricity, the cathode product is a hydroxide base. Thus, providing an alternative to the conventional chloro-alkali process for production of MOH (M=Na, K, Cs). Herein, a CEM-DFFC is made utilizing alkali metal formate salts as the fuel to determine the most effective cation in terms of power output and hydroxide formation. The CE-DFFC were ran for up to 20 hours at a constant current of 50-100 mA. Cation exchanged Nafion 211 membrane was found to be the most effective membrane, while Na-DFFC provided the greatest power and base formation. The formate electrooxidation reaction (FOR) was studied in half-cells to elucidate the effect of the cations on FOR. The order of greatest activity to least was found to be Na &gt; K &gt; Li &gt; Cs. The improved activity could be attributed to better oxidation of H<sub>ads</sub> on the Pd surface as well as improved charge transfer resistance.

Simultaneous production of electricity and hydroxide by a cation exchange membrane direct formate fuel cell

2019 Fall National Meeting

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