High Performance Direct N₂H₄-H₂O₂ Fuel Cell Using Fiber-Shaped Co Decorated with Pt Crystallites as Anode Electrocatalysts

Abstract

In this study, a fiber-shaped Co coating was electroplated on the Cu surface followed by the deposition of Pt crystallites using the galvanic displacement method. The electrochemical behavior of the prepared Cofiber and Pt nanoparticles decorated Cofiber catalysts were evaluated in order to provide insights into the electro-oxidation of N2H4 in an alkaline media was performed using cyclic voltammetry and chrono-techniques. The influence of Cofiber/Cu and PtCofiber/Cu as the anode electrocatalyst on the performance of direct N2H4-H2O2 fuel cell was investigated at different temperatures. The deposition of a small amount of Pt crystallites, in the range of 5 μgPt cm–2 to 29 μgPt cm–2, significantly improved the performance of the fiber-shaped Co catalyst for the electro-oxidation of N2H4 in an alkaline medium. The measured N2H4 oxidation current densities at −0.2 V are approximately 5–6 times larger for different PtCofiber/Cu catalysts, compared with that of a pure Cofiber/Cu. The single N2H4-H2O2 fuel cell results showed that the highest peak power density of 219.8 mW cm–2 for the N2H4-H2O2 fuel cell was obtained with the PtCofiber/Cu catalyst that has the Pt loading of 28.7 μgPt cm–2.