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Improving the Electrochemical Properties of Carbon Paper as Cathodes for Microfluidic Fuel Cells by the Electrochemical Activation in Different Solutions

[Image: see text] Membraneless microfluidic fuel cells (MFCs) have garnered tremendous interest as micropower devices, which exploit the colaminar nature of two aqueous electrolytes to separate the anode and cathode and avoid the membrane usually used in a fuel cell. Our previous research shows that...

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Autores principales: Liu, Chunmei, Sun, Canxing, Gao, Yanjun, Lan, Weijuan, Chen, Shaowei
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: American Chemical Society 2021
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8320087/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34337253
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.1c02507
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author Liu, Chunmei
Sun, Canxing
Gao, Yanjun
Lan, Weijuan
Chen, Shaowei
author_facet Liu, Chunmei
Sun, Canxing
Gao, Yanjun
Lan, Weijuan
Chen, Shaowei
author_sort Liu, Chunmei
collection PubMed
description [Image: see text] Membraneless microfluidic fuel cells (MFCs) have garnered tremendous interest as micropower devices, which exploit the colaminar nature of two aqueous electrolytes to separate the anode and cathode and avoid the membrane usually used in a fuel cell. Our previous research shows that the performance of FeCl(3)-based MFCs with catalyst-free cathodes is mainly limited by the cathode. To improve the power output of these MFCs, we activated the carbon paper cathode by an electrochemical method in the three solutions (Na(2)SO(4), NaOH, and H(2)SO(4)) to improve the electrochemical characteristics of the carbon paper cathode. The surface functionalities and defects, reduction activation of iron ions as the oxidant, cathode resistance, and performance of FeCl(3)-based MFCs were measured and compared. Our work shows that the electrochemical activation of the carbon paper in different solutions is a simple and effective method to enhance the electrochemical characteristics of the carbon paper cathode and improve the performance of the FeCl(3)-based MFC. Also, the MFC with the carbon paper cathode activated in the H(2)SO(4) solution reaches the optimum performance: 235.6 mW cm(–3) in volumetric power density and 1063.33 mA cm(–3) in volumetric limiting current density, which are 1.58 and 1.52 times as much as that of a MFC with an untreated carbon paper cathode, respectively. This best performance can be attributed to the cathode activated in the H(2)SO(4) solution with the largest number of oxygen-containing functional groups, the largest electrochemical active surface area, strongest reduction of iron ions, and least resistance of the cathode.
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spelling pubmed-83200872021-07-30 Improving the Electrochemical Properties of Carbon Paper as Cathodes for Microfluidic Fuel Cells by the Electrochemical Activation in Different Solutions Liu, Chunmei Sun, Canxing Gao, Yanjun Lan, Weijuan Chen, Shaowei ACS Omega [Image: see text] Membraneless microfluidic fuel cells (MFCs) have garnered tremendous interest as micropower devices, which exploit the colaminar nature of two aqueous electrolytes to separate the anode and cathode and avoid the membrane usually used in a fuel cell. Our previous research shows that the performance of FeCl(3)-based MFCs with catalyst-free cathodes is mainly limited by the cathode. To improve the power output of these MFCs, we activated the carbon paper cathode by an electrochemical method in the three solutions (Na(2)SO(4), NaOH, and H(2)SO(4)) to improve the electrochemical characteristics of the carbon paper cathode. The surface functionalities and defects, reduction activation of iron ions as the oxidant, cathode resistance, and performance of FeCl(3)-based MFCs were measured and compared. Our work shows that the electrochemical activation of the carbon paper in different solutions is a simple and effective method to enhance the electrochemical characteristics of the carbon paper cathode and improve the performance of the FeCl(3)-based MFC. Also, the MFC with the carbon paper cathode activated in the H(2)SO(4) solution reaches the optimum performance: 235.6 mW cm(–3) in volumetric power density and 1063.33 mA cm(–3) in volumetric limiting current density, which are 1.58 and 1.52 times as much as that of a MFC with an untreated carbon paper cathode, respectively. This best performance can be attributed to the cathode activated in the H(2)SO(4) solution with the largest number of oxygen-containing functional groups, the largest electrochemical active surface area, strongest reduction of iron ions, and least resistance of the cathode. American Chemical Society 2021-07-15 /pmc/articles/PMC8320087/ /pubmed/34337253 http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.1c02507 Text en © 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society Permits non-commercial access and re-use, provided that author attribution and integrity are maintained; but does not permit creation of adaptations or other derivative works (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
spellingShingle Liu, Chunmei
Sun, Canxing
Gao, Yanjun
Lan, Weijuan
Chen, Shaowei
Improving the Electrochemical Properties of Carbon Paper as Cathodes for Microfluidic Fuel Cells by the Electrochemical Activation in Different Solutions
title Improving the Electrochemical Properties of Carbon Paper as Cathodes for Microfluidic Fuel Cells by the Electrochemical Activation in Different Solutions
title_full Improving the Electrochemical Properties of Carbon Paper as Cathodes for Microfluidic Fuel Cells by the Electrochemical Activation in Different Solutions
title_fullStr Improving the Electrochemical Properties of Carbon Paper as Cathodes for Microfluidic Fuel Cells by the Electrochemical Activation in Different Solutions
title_full_unstemmed Improving the Electrochemical Properties of Carbon Paper as Cathodes for Microfluidic Fuel Cells by the Electrochemical Activation in Different Solutions
title_short Improving the Electrochemical Properties of Carbon Paper as Cathodes for Microfluidic Fuel Cells by the Electrochemical Activation in Different Solutions
title_sort improving the electrochemical properties of carbon paper as cathodes for microfluidic fuel cells by the electrochemical activation in different solutions
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8320087/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34337253
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.1c02507
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