A Paper-Based Microfluidic Fuel Cell with Hydrogen Peroxide as Fuel and Oxidant

The ever-growing interest in portable electronics, especially wearable devices, imposes great demands on power sources that are compact. A paper-based microfluidic fuel cell for portable electronics that uses H2O2 as both fuel and oxidant is reported herein. Unlike conventional microfluidic fuel cells, which rely on a colaminar flow of anolyte and catholyte, the present fuel cell is realized by the selective catalysis of H2O2, and it can eliminate concerns about fuel management and disturbance by bubbles. Silver nanowires and carbon nanotube (CNT)-supported Prussian Blue are chosen as the anode and cathode catalyst, respectively, to catalyze the oxidation and reduction reactions. Results show that the present microfluidic fuel cell system is able to offer a peak power density as high as 0.88 mWcm(-2). Additional striking features of the present fuel cell are that it does not require precious-metal catalysts and the used fuel, H2O2, is a carbon-free and sustainable energy carrier.