A Membraneless Direct Borohydride Fuel Cell Using LaNiO3-Catalysed Cathode

Direct borohydride fuel cell (DBFC) is one of the most exciting energy technologies that solve the hydrogen storage and safety issues by using aqueous solution of KBH4 or NaBH4. Here, we present a membraneless DBFC with perovskite-type oxide LaNiO3/C-catalysed cathode. A significant finding from the electrochemical experiments is that it obviously shows that the existence of ions has almost no negative influence on the discharge performances of the LaNiO3-catalysed cathode. Therefore, the DBFC is designed without using an ion exchange membrane. The maximal power density of 127 mW cm–2 is obtained at 65 °C under atmospheric pressure. A 500 h life test shows that the DBFC has good stability.