An intermediate-temperature direct ammonia fuel cell with a molten alkaline hydroxide electrolyte

✍ Scribed by Jason C. Ganley

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 286 KB
• Volume: 178
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0378-7753
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2007.11.093

✦ Synopsis

This paper describes the development and testing of a direct ammonia fuel cell utilizing a molten alkaline hydroxide electrolyte at temperatures between 200 and 450 • C. The advantages of a molten hydroxide fuel cell include the use of a highly conductive and very low-cost electrolyte, inexpensive base metal electrocatalysts, a wide operating temperature range, fuel flexibility, and fast electrode kinetics. The direct use of ammonia in such a fuel cell, even at temperatures as low as 200 • C, is made possible due to the very chemically aggressive nature of the melt. A test cell was constructed using a KOH-NaOH eutectic mixture and produced approximately 40 mW cm -2 of power at 450 • C while operating on a stream of pure ammonia fed to the anode and compressed ambient air fed to the cathode.