MWCNT-supported phthalocyanine cobalt as air-breathing cathodic catalyst in glucose/O2 fuel cells

•New generation of non-enzymatic glucose fuel cell using anionic exchange membrane.•Simple and highly efficient glucose fuel cells using abiotic catalysts are obtained.•Anion exchange membrane shows superior power density compared to cationic one.•We report the highest stability described for an alkaline glucose fuel cell.

Simple and highly efficient glucose fuel cells using abiotic catalysts and different ion exchange membranes were designed. The glucose fuel cells are based on a multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-supported cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) cathode and a carbon black/platinum (C/Pt) anode. The electrocatalytic activity of the MWCNT/CoPc electrode for oxygen reduction was investigated by cyclic and linear sweep voltammetry. The electrochemical experiments show that CoPc exhibits promising catalytic properties for oxygen reduction due to its high overpotential and efficiency at reduced metal load. The MWCNT/CoPc electrodes were applied to the oxygen reduction reaction as air-breathing cathode in a single-chambered glucose fuel cell. This cathode was associated with a C/Pt anode in fuel cell configurations using either an anion (Nafion®) or a cation (Tokuyama) exchange membrane. The best fuel cell configuration delivered a maximum power density of 2.3 mW cm−2 and a cell voltage of 0.8 V in 0.5 M KOH solution containing 0.5 M glucose using the Tokuyama membrane at ambient conditions. Beside the highest power density per cathodic catalyst mass (383 W g−1), these glucose fuel cells exhibit a high operational stability, delivering 0.3 mW cm−2 after 50 days.