Investigation of fuel and media flexible laminar flow-based fuel cells

We investigate the performance of air-breathing laminar flow-based fuel cells (LFFCs) operated with five different fuels (formic acid, methanol, ethanol, hydrazine, and sodium borohydride) in either acidic or alkaline media. The membraneless LFFC architecture enables interchangeable operation with different fuel and media combinations that are only limited by the actual anode catalyst used. Furthermore, operating under alkaline conditions significantly improves methanol and ethanol oxidation kinetics and stabilizes sodium borohydride. LFFCs operated with hydrazine and sodium borohydride as fuels exhibit power densities of 80 and 101 mW/cm2, respectively. To optimize anode performance, particularly for ethanol electro-oxidation, we introduced a hydrogen cathode to the membraneless LFFC design which renders the cell an ideal platform for anode investigation. Here, we highlight two simple diagnostic methods, in situ single electrode studies and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), for characterizing and optimizing the performance of a direct ethanol LFFC anode.