0000000000344933
AUTHOR
Giovanni Pietro Chiavarotti
Nanoporous alumina membranes filled with solid acid for thin film fuel cells at intermediate temperatures
Thin film fuel cells have been fabricated by impregnation of inorganic porous membranes with inorganic proton conductor. Anodic alumina membranes (50 μm thick and pore diameter of 200 nm), filled with CsHSO4 salt have been used as protonic conductor in a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell working between 423 and 443 K in dry atmosphere. Polarization curves at 433 K showing ohmic control with open circuit values near 0.8 V and short circuit current around 8 mA cm−2 have been obtained. Possible causes of degradation as well as alternative routes to overcome some of the problems encountered with this approach will be reported. Keywords: Solid acid, Anodic alumina membranes, Pore filling, Thin film fuel…
Microporous alumina membranes electrochemically grown
Abstract The electrochemical fabrication of alumina membranes by anodizing of aluminium in phosphoric acid and oxalic acid solutions, in the temperature interval from −1 to 16 °C, was investigated in order to study the influence of different parameters (initial treatment of aluminium surface, nature and composition of electrolyte, temperature) on the final characteristics of the membranes. Porous layers were grown using a linear potential scan at 0.2 V s −1 up to 160 V in H 3 PO 4 solution and 70 V in oxalic acid solution. The efficiency of porous layer formation was calculated by using Faraday's law and weight measurements. Pore size distribution and porosity of membranes prepared in 0.4 M…