A robust single compartment peroxide fuel cell using mesoporous antimony doped tin oxide as the cathode material

Abstract

To date, metal oxide catalysts have not been explored as cathode materials for robust and high-performance single-compartment H₂O₂ fuel cells due to significant non-electrochemical disproportionation losses of H₂O₂ on many metal oxide surfaces. Here, for the first time, we demonstrate an acidic peroxide fuel cell with antimony doped tin oxide as the cathode and widely used Ni foam as the anode material. Our constructed peroxide fuel cell records a superior open circuit potential of nearly 0.82 V and a maximum power density of 0.32 mW cm⁻² with high operational stability. The fuel cell performance is further improved by increasing the ionic strength of the electrolyte with the addition of 1 M NaCl, resulting in an increased maximum power density value of 1.1 mW cm⁻².