Nickel-cobalt bimetallic anode catalysts for direct urea fuel cell

Sci Rep. 2014 Aug 29:4:5863. doi: 10.1038/srep05863.

Abstract

Nickel is an ideal non-noble metal anode catalyst for direct urea fuel cell (DUFC) due to its high activity. However, there exists a large overpotential toward urea electrooxidation. Herein, NiCo/C bimetallic nanoparticles were prepared with various Co contents (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 wt%) to improve the activity. The best Co ratio was 10% in the aspect of cell performance, with a maximum power density of 1.57 mW cm(-2) when 0.33 M urea was used as fuel, O2 as oxidant at 60 °C. The effects of temperature and urea concentration on DUFC performance were investigated. Besides, direct urine fuel cell reaches a maximum power density of 0.19 mW cm(-2) with an open circuit voltage of 0.38 V at 60 °C.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Catalysis
  • Cobalt / chemistry*
  • Electric Power Supplies
  • Electrodes
  • Humans
  • Nickel / chemistry*
  • Particle Size
  • Urea / chemistry*
  • Urine / chemistry

Substances

  • Cobalt
  • Nickel
  • Urea