0000000000309307
AUTHOR
N. Abson
A new application for nickel foam in alkaline fuel cells
The use of nickel foam as an electrode substrate in alkaline fuel cells (AFCs) has been investigated for bi-polar cells incorporating an electrically conducting gas diffusion layer. This contribution focuses on the cathode, and draws comparisons between nickel foam and nickel mesh substrates. One of the principal electrocatalysts for the cathodic reduction of oxygen is silver, so an improvement in electrochemical performance was obtained by electroplating the nickel foam with silver. The electrodeposition process was optimised to maximise electrochemical performance with a minimum of silver deposited. Nickel foam, which is less expensive than the usual nickel mesh, appears to be a good subs…
An improved cathode for alkaline fuel cells
Abstract The use of nickel foam as an electrode substrate in alkaline fuel cells (AFCs) has been investigated for bipolar cells incorporating an electrically conducting gas diffusion layer (GDL). Improved performance, compared to a previous design, was obtained by adding an extra active layer (AL) composed of manganese (IV) oxide (MnO2) deposited onto carbon black. This new cathode design performed significantly better (130 mA cm−2 at 0.8 V and 25 °C) than the previous design (35 mA cm−2 under the same condition), especially at higher potential. It has been shown that the GDL is a key component of the gas diffusion electrode for both performance and durability, especially with liquid electr…