4.8 Article

Determination of the efficiency of ethanol oxidation in a proton exchange membrane electrolysis cell

Journal

JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
Volume 351, Issue -, Pages 106-114

Publisher

ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2017.03.084

Keywords

Direct ethanol fuel cell; Efficiency; Crossover; Product distribution; Flow rate; Number of electrons; Stoichiometry

Funding

  1. Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [1957-2012]
  2. Memorial University

Ask authors/readers for more resources

Products and residual ethanol in the anode and cathode exhausts of an ethanol electrolysis cell (EEC) have been analyzed by proton NMR and infrared spectrometry under a variety of operating conditions. This provides a full accounting of the fate of ethanol entering the cell, including the stoichiometry of the ethanol oxidation reaction (i.e. the average number of electrons transferred per ethanol molecule), product distribution and the crossover of ethanol and products through the membrane. The reaction stoichiometry (floe) is the key parameter that determines the faradaic efficiency of both EECs and direct ethanol fuel cells. Values determined independently from the product distribution, amount of ethanol consumed, and a simple electrochemical method based on the dependence of the current on the flow rate of the ethanol solution are compared. It is shown that the electrochemical method yields results that are consistent with those based on the product distribution, and based on the consumption of ethanol when crossover is accounted for. Since quantitative analysis of the cathode exhaust is challenging, the electrochemical method provides a valuable alternative for routine determination of nay, and hence the faradaic efficiency of the cell. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.8
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available