(642g) Electrooxidation of Formic Acid Over Pt Supported on Carbon Nanotubes
AIChE Annual Meeting
2008
2008 Annual Meeting
Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Division
Electrocatalysis Applications for Fuel Cells II
Thursday, November 20, 2008 - 2:42pm to 3:04pm
Formic acid has been recently identified as a promising energy source for low temperature PEM fuel cells. It can be obtained from the environment (ants, fruits), it has a high energy density, a lower crossover across Nafion® than methanol, and employs a more CO tolerant catalysts for oxidation. This work presents the benefits of employing multi-walled carbon nanotubes as supports for formic acid oxidation catalysts. Two significant benefits are observed when mixed acid functionalized multi-walled nanotubes (FMWNT) are used as supports instead of Vulcan XC 72 for platinum catalyst. This includes:
1. A 50% increase in formic acid electrooxidation.
2. A shift in CO oxidation potential to lower values by ~50 mV.
The results presented here not only demonstrates the feasibility of using multi-walled nanotubes as supports for formic acid oxidation catalyst, but also shows a more energy efficient way to oxidize formic acid. These results can be the basis for evaluating other catalysts over nanotubes for formic acid oxidation. These results also assume a broader significance because of the rapidly growing commercial interest on formic acid as a benign portable energy source for different applications such as communication devices (cell phones) and data processors (laptops).