Comparative study between platinum supported on carbon and non-noble metal cathode catalyst in alkaline direct ethanol fuel cell (ADEFC)

In this study, we reported a comparison study between the performance of the commercial non-noble metal cathode electrode (made by Hypermec™ K14 catalyst - provided by Acta S.p.A.) and cathode electrode containing 10 wt% Pt/C, in the alkaline direct ethanol fuel cell (ADEFC) under different conditions.Further electrochemical investigations have been done by RDE and driven mode cell to compare the intrinsic activity and selectivity of 10 wt% Pt/C and Hypermec™ K14 transition metals cathode catalysts. It is worthwhile to point out that Hypermec™ K14 cathode catalyst shows a remarkable selectivity to oxygen reduction and it has a superior intrinsic activity in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) especially in terms of volumetric current density (A/cm3). Test results of active DEFC made by non-noble cathode catalyst showed superior performance compared to the cell made by 10 wt% Pt/C cathode catalysts in terms of power density and OCV at 60 °C and ambient pressure. This result is related to the higher ORR kinetic of non-noble metal cathode catalyst in alkaline media.