Jong Pil Choi, Young Ho Seo*, Byeong Hee Kim
The Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology, vol. 25, no. 4, pp.931-935, 2011

Abstract : This paper presents a simple and low-cost micro direct borohydride fuel cell (DBFC) using a mixture of a fuel (sodium borohydride, NaBH4) and a liquid electrolyte (potassium hydroxide, KOH) in order to improve three-phase contact in micro fuel cells. It consists of an anode, cathode, and a fuel chamber for the liquid mixture of the fuel and the electrolyte. For anode catalysts, gold (Au) was sputtered on a Pyrex® glass, and manganese dioxide supported on carbon (MnO2/C) was coated on nickel foam for cathode catalysts. The NaBH4 and 1 M KOH were used as the hydrogen source and electrolyte respectively. The DBFC has a simple configuration without auxiliary devices and is cost effective because a platinum catalyst and ion exchange membranes were not used. The size of the DBFC was 20 × 14 × 5 mm3, and the active area was 10 × 10 mm2. The DBFC showed a maximum power of 1.18 mW at 0.29 V, and three serially connected cells illuminated two LEDs for one hour without refueling and any auxiliary devices.

Keyword : Direct borohydride fuel cell; Nickel foam; Mixed fuel; Stand-alone