Study of metal electrodes in a single-cell hydrogen peroxide fuel cell

Hydrogen peroxide is a promising alternative to Hydrogen gas as a fuel cell fuel. As hydrogen peroxide can act as both the oxidizing and reducing agent, it reduces the complexity of the cell. The cell can be contained as a single compartment where both the anode and cathode reactions occur. It follows a similar chemical reaction to hydrogen fuel cells, where water is created. The benefit of hydrogen peroxide is that it can be stored more easily and in safer conditions. Evaluating the efficiency of hydrogen peroxide fuel cells is important to justify their validity as a fuel cell alternative. For this study, tantalum and poly(copper phthalocyanine) were tested in a single-compartment fuel cell configuration. The electrodes are tested in an acidic electrolyte solution. To evaluate the cell performances, custom electrodes were made for metals that were not already available and then tested. It was found that the electrode combination of tantalum metal and poly(copper phthalocyanine) carbon cloth electrodes in an acidic electrolyte solution had an output potential of 620 mV. From here, the cell should be scaled to a stack to test its effectiveness further.