A direct borohydride fuel cell using CoPc as cathode catalyst

Direct borohydride fuel cell (DBFC) has attracted significant attention due to its high theoretical voltage and fast anodic electrooxidation rates. A DBFC using a cobalt phthalocyanine supported on active carbon (CoPc/C) catalyzed air cathode and a hydrogen storage alloy-catalyzed anode was presented in this paper. It is found that CoPc/C cathode not only demonstrates considerable electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction in BH4-alkaline solutions, but also has no catalytic activity to the BH4-. Therefore, the DBFC is designed without an ion exchange membrane. The test results show that the maximal power density is 65 mW/cm2 and this type of DBFC has good short-term stability.