Lignocellulose, Cellulose and Lignin as Renewable Alternative Fuels for Direct Biomass Fuel Cells

In recent years the use of renewable sources, such as lignocellulosic biomass (LCB), as the fuel for various types of fuel cells received growing interest. Different types of fuel cells, that is, operated at low temperatures (T<100 degrees C; microbial fuel cells (MFC), alkaline (AFCs) and flow fuel cells (FFCs)), intermediate temperatures (Tin the range 150-300 degrees C, proton-conducting inorganic-organic composite membrane fuel cells), and high temperatures (T >= 500 degrees C, direct carbon fuel cells (DCFCs)), have been used for the conversion of the chemical energy in LCB to electrical energy. The economic advantage of the direct use of LCB consists of avoiding the acid hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose for low-temperature fuel cells and the pretreatment at high temperatures necessary to convert biomass to biochar (pyrolysis) in the case of high-temperature fuel cells. In this Review, the characteristics of direct biomass fuel cells are presented and their performance is compared with that of indirect biomass fuel cells fed with glucose (low-temperature fuel cells) and biochar (high-temperature fuel cells).

Automated summary

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in using lignocellulosic biomass as the fuel for fuel cells, which can avoid the acid hydrolysis or high-temperature treatment of biomass. Different types of fuel cells are used for different temperature ranges of operation, and the performance of direct biomass fuel cells is being compared with indirect biomass fuel cells.