Fuel cell electrochemistry

Aluminum Batteries Chemical Thermodynamics Electrochemistry Fuel Cells, Applications in Stationary Power Systems Kinetics (Chemistry) Transportation Applications for Fuel Cells... 

Why Do We Need to Know This Material The topics described in this chapter may one day unlock a virtually inexhaustible supply of clean energy supplied daily by the Sun. The key is electrochemistry, the study of the interaction of electricity and chemical reactions. The transfer of electrons from one species to another is one of the fundamental processes underlying life, photosynthesis, fuel cells, and the refining of metals. An understanding of how electrons are transferred helps us to design ways to use chemical reactions to generate electricity and to use electricity to bring about chemical reactions. Electrochemical measurements also allow us to determine the values of thermodynamic quantities. 

Bockris, J. O M., and Srinivasan, S. K. (1969). Fuel Cells—Tlieir Electrochemistry , McGraw Hill. 

Electrochemistry is the basis of many important and modem applications and scientific developments such as nanoscale machining (fabrication of miniature devices with three dimensional control in the nanometer scale), electrochemistry at the atomic scale, scanning tunneling microscopy, transformation of energy in biological cells, selective electrodes for the determination of ions, and new kinds of electrochemical cells, batteries and fuel cells. 

The first reported electroorganic synthesis of a sizeable amount of material at a modified electrode, in 1982, was the reduction of 1,2-dihaloalkanes at p-nitrostyrene coated platinum electrodes to give alkenes. The preparation of stilbene was conducted on a 20 pmol scale with reported turnover numbers approaching 1 x 10. The idea of mediated electrochemistry has more frequently been pursued for inorganic electrode reactions, notably the reduction of oxygen which is of eminent importance for fuel cell cathodes Almost 20 contributions on oxygen reduction at modified... 

O M. Bockris and S. Srinivasan, Fuel Cells Their Electrochemistry, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1969. 

Adsorbed CO on a metal surface is one of the simplest adsorbates and has attracted significant interest within the areas of fundamental surface science, catalysis, and electrochemistry. An understanding of the oxidation mechanism of adsorbed CO is important to design and develop electrocatalysts for fuel cells [69-73] and the surface dynamics of adsorbed CO on electrode surfaces in electrolyte solutions is, therefore, very important. 

Mustain WE, Kepler K, Prakash J. 2007. CoPd, oxygen reduction electrocatalysts for polymer electrolyte membrane and direct methanol fuel cells. Electrochim Acta 52 2102-2108. Nagy Z, You H. 2002. Applications of surface X-ray scattering to electrochemistry problems. Electrochim Acta 47 3037-3055. 

Watanabe M, Igarashi H, Fujino T. 1999. Design of CO tolerant anode catalysts for polymer electrolyte fuel cell. Electrochemistry 67 1194-1196. 

Stonehart P. 1994. The role of electrocatalysis in solid polymer electrolyte fuel cells. In Drake JAG, editor. Electrochemistry and Clean Energy. Cambridge The Royal Society of Chemistry. 

Catalysis in Electrochemistry From Fundamentals to Strategies for Fuel Cell Development, Elizabeth Santos and Wolfgang Schmickler... 

Aqueous, alkaline fuel cells, as used by NASA for supplemental power in spacecraft, are intolerant to C02 in the oxidant. The strongly alkaline electrolyte acts as an efficient scrubber for any C02, even down to the ppm level, but the resultant carbonate alters the performance unacceptably. This behavior was recognized as early as the mid 1960 s as a way to control space cabin C02 levels and recover and recycle the chemically bound oxygen. While these devices had been built and operated at bench scale before 1970, the first comprehensive analysis of their electrochemistry was put forth in a series of papers in 1974 [27]. The system comprises a bipolar array of fuel cells through whose cathode chamber COz-containing air is passed. The electrolyte, aqueous Cs2C03, is immobilized in a thin (0.25 0.75 mm) membrane. The electrodes are nickel-based fuel cell electrodes, designed to be hydrophobic with PTFE. 

The High Temperature Electrochemistry Center (HiTEC) Advanced Research Program provides research for supporting SECA, fuel cell coal based systems, and FutureGen. HiTEC is located at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) with support groups at Montana State Uni-... 

N. Giordano, E. Passalacqua, L. Pino, V. Alderucci, P.L. Antonucci, "Catalyst and Electrochemistry in PAFC A Unifying Approach," in The International Fuel Cell Conference Proceedings, NEDO/MTTI, Tokyo, Japan, 1992. 

Polarization curves for a PEM fuel cell with different cathode catalyst layers. (Reproduced from Zhang, X. and Shi, P. Electrochemistry Communications 2006 8 1229-1234. With permission from Elsevier.)... 

Wilson, M. S., and Gottesfeld, S. Thin film catalyst layers for polymer electrolyte fuel cell electrodes. Journal of Applied Electrochemistry 1992 22 1-7. 

Eischer, A., Jindra, J., and Wendt, H. Porosity and catalyst utilization of thin layer cathodes in air operated PEM fuel cells. Journal of Applied Electrochemistry 1998 28 277-282. 

Lee, K., Zhang, J., Wang, H., and Wilkinson, D. P. Progress in the synthesis of carbon nanotube- and nanofiber-supported Pt electrocatalysts for PEM fuel cell catalysis. Journal of Applied Electrochemistry 2006 36 507-522. 

Paganin, V. A., Ticianelli, E. A., and Gonzalez, E. R. Development and electrochemical studies of gas diffusion electrodes for polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Journal of Applied Electrochemistry 1996 26 297-304. 

Broka, K. and Ekdunge, P. 1997. Oxygen and hydrogen permeation properties and water uptake of Nation 117 membrane and recast film for PEM fuel cell. Journal of Applied Electrochemistry 27 117-123. 

Fu, Y. Z., Manthiram, A. and Guiver, M. D. 2006. Blend membranes based on sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) and polysulfone bearing benzimidazole side groups for proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Electrochemistry... 

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