Study of LaCoO3 as a cathode catalyst for a membraneless direct borohydride fuel cell

In this paper, the perovskite-type oxide LaCoO3 was studied as a cathode catalyst for use in a direct borohydride fuel cell (DBFC). The experimental results demonstrated that the LaCoO3-catalysed cathode not only shows good electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction in alkaline solutions, but also shows good resistance to poisoning from BH4− ions originating from the fuel during discharge performance. Based on this new type of catalyst, a membraneless fuel cell was designed with a hydrogen storage alloy used as the anode catalyst. The maximal current density of 220 mA cm−2 and power density of 65 mW cm−2 were obtained at ambient conditions.