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Carbon-neutral sustainable energy technology: Direct ethanol fuel cells

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  • An, L.
  • Zhao, T.S.
  • Li, Y.S.

Abstract

Ethanol is a sustainable, carbon-neutral transportation fuel. It is an ideal fuel source for direct oxidation fuel cells for portable and mobile applications, as it offers multiple advantages over hydrogen and methanol, including ease of transportation, storage and handling as well as higher energy density. Tremendous efforts have been made to improve direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFC) that use proton exchange membranes. This type of acid DEFC still exhibits low performance (the state-of-the-art peak power density is 96mWcm−2 at 90°C), despite employing expensive platinum-based catalysts. However, it has been recently demonstrated that the use of anion exchange membranes and non-platinum catalysts in DEFCs enables a dramatic boost in performance (the state-of-the-art peak power density can be as high as 185mWcm−2 at 60°C). This article provides an overview of both acid and alkaline DEFC technologies by describing their working principles, cell performance, system efficiency, products of the ethanol oxidation reaction, and cost. Recent innovations and future perspectives of alkaline DEFCs are particularly emphasized.

Suggested Citation

  • An, L. & Zhao, T.S. & Li, Y.S., 2015. "Carbon-neutral sustainable energy technology: Direct ethanol fuel cells," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1462-1468.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:50:y:2015:i:c:p:1462-1468
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2015.05.074
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    Cited by:

    1. Michaela Roschger & Sigrid Wolf & Boštjan Genorio & Viktor Hacker, 2022. "Effect of PdNiBi Metal Content: Cost Reduction in Alkaline Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-15, November.
    2. Luque-Centeno, J.M. & Martínez-Huerta, M.V. & Sebastián, D. & Lemes, G. & Pastor, E. & Lázaro, M.J., 2018. "Bifunctional N-doped graphene Ti and Co nanocomposites for the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 182-192.
    3. Benipal, Neeva & Qi, Ji & Gentile, Jacob C. & Li, Wenzhen, 2017. "Direct glycerol fuel cell with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) thin film separator," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 647-655.
    4. Sánchez-Monreal, Juan & García-Salaberri, Pablo A. & Vera, Marcos, 2019. "A mathematical model for direct ethanol fuel cells based on detailed ethanol electro-oxidation kinetics," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.
    5. Selvaraj Rajesh Kumar & Cheng-Hsin Juan & Guan-Ming Liao & Jia-Shiun Lin & Chun-Chen Yang & Wei-Ting Ma & Jiann-Hua You & Shingjiang Jessie Lue, 2015. "Fumed Silica Nanoparticles Incorporated in Quaternized Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) Nanocomposite Membrane for Enhanced Power Densities in Direct Alcohol Alkaline Fuel Cells," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-19, December.
    6. An, L. & Jung, C.Y., 2017. "Transport phenomena in direct borohydride fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 1270-1282.
    7. Radenahmad, Nikdalila & Afif, Ahmed & Petra, Pg Iskandar & Rahman, Seikh M.H. & Eriksson, Sten-G. & Azad, Abul K., 2016. "Proton-conducting electrolytes for direct methanol and direct urea fuel cells – A state-of-the-art review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1347-1358.
    8. Yu, Bor-Chern & Wang, Yi-Chun & Lu, Hsin-Chun & Lin, Hsiu-Li & Shih, Chao-Ming & Kumar, S. Rajesh & Lue, Shingjiang Jessie, 2017. "Hydroxide-ion selective electrolytes based on a polybenzimidazole/graphene oxide composite membrane," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 802-812.
    9. Deva Harsha Perugupalli & Tao Xu & Kyu Taek Cho, 2019. "Activation of Carbon Porous Paper for Alkaline Alcoholic Fuel Cells," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-12, August.
    10. Hosseini, Mir Ghasem & Mahmoodi, Raana & Daneshvari-Esfahlan, Vahid, 2018. "Ni@Pd core-shell nanostructure supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes as efficient anode nanocatalysts for direct methanol fuel cells with membrane electrode assembly prepared by catalyst coated m," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 1074-1084.
    11. Gentil, Tuani C. & Pinheiro, Victor S. & Souza, Felipe M. & de Araújo, Marcos L. & Mandelli, Dalmo & Batista, Bruno L. & dos Santos, Mauro C., 2021. "Acetol as a high-performance molecule for oxidation in alkaline direct liquid fuel cell," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(P1), pages 37-42.
    12. Mendiburu, Andrés Z. & Lauermann, Carlos H. & Hayashi, Thamy C. & Mariños, Diego J. & Rodrigues da Costa, Roberto Berlini & Coronado, Christian J.R. & Roberts, Justo J. & de Carvalho, João A., 2022. "Ethanol as a renewable biofuel: Combustion characteristics and application in engines," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    13. Ke, Yuzhi & Yuan, Wei & Zhou, Feikun & Guo, Wenwen & Li, Jinguang & Zhuang, Ziyi & Su, Xiaoqing & Lu, Biaowu & Zhao, Yonghao & Tang, Yong & Chen, Yu & Song, Jianli, 2021. "A critical review on surface-pattern engineering of nafion membrane for fuel cell applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    14. Ong, Samuel & Al-Othman, Amani & Tawalbeh, Muhammad, 2023. "Emerging technologies in prognostics for fuel cells including direct hydrocarbon fuel cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    15. Wu, Q.X. & Pan, Z.F. & An, L., 2018. "Recent advances in alkali-doped polybenzimidazole membranes for fuel cell applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 168-183.
    16. Osmieri, Luigi & Escudero-Cid, Ricardo & Monteverde Videla, Alessandro H.A. & Ocón, Pilar & Specchia, Stefania, 2018. "Application of a non-noble Fe-N-C catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction in an alkaline direct ethanol fuel cell," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 226-237.
    17. Zeng, Y.K. & Zhao, T.S. & Zhou, X.L. & Zeng, L. & Wei, L., 2016. "The effects of design parameters on the charge-discharge performance of iron-chromium redox flow batteries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 204-209.

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