Partial modification of flow-through porous electrodes in microfluidic fuel cell

Li Li, Keqing Zheng, Meng Ni, Michael K H Leung*, Jin Xuan

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

35 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The use of flow-through porous electrodes is identified as a promising approach to enhance the performance of microfluidic fuel cell (MFC). In this study, a dimensionless computational model is developed to analyze the distribution characteristics of the electrochemical reactions in flow-through porous electrodes of MFC. One important finding is that the electrochemical reactions mainly occur in the vicinity of the anode and cathode outlets. Based on this observation, the new design of partial modification at reactive sites is proposed to reduce the MFC cost. It is found that MFC with partial modification can achieve comparable performance with that of conventional full electrode modification, demonstrating the feasibility of partial modification method. The partial modification also offers a promising alternative to avoid unwanted secondary reaction, such as hydrogen evolution.

Original languageEnglish
JournalEnergy
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Jan 2015

Keywords

  • Dimensionless computational model
  • Electrochemical reaction zone
  • Flow-through porous electrode
  • Microfluidic fuel cell
  • Partial modification

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Energy
  • Pollution

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Partial modification of flow-through porous electrodes in microfluidic fuel cell'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this