Copper hexacyanoferrate as cathode material for
hydrogen peroxide fuel cell
R.F. Martins
a,*
, D.A.A. Martins
a
, L.A.C. Costa
a
, T. Matencio
a
,
R.M. Paniago
b
, L.A. Montoro
a
a
Departamento de Quı´mica, ICEx, UFMG, 6627, CEP 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
b
Departamento de Fı´sica, ICEx, UFMG, 702, CEP 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
highlights
Handheld electronic devices with high-energy autonomy.
Clean and mobile energy source developments.
One compartment Hydrogen peroxide/direct hydrogen peroxide fuel cell.
Copper hexacyanoferrates as cathodic material and a Ni grid as anodic material.
The maximum Fuel cell power density achieved was 8.3 mW cm
2
.
article info
Article history:
Received 1 August 2019
Received in revised form
20 December 2019
Accepted 10 January 2020
Available online xxx
Keywords:
Fuel cell
Hydrogen peroxide
Hexacyanoferrate
Cathode
abstract
The current need for handheld electronic devices with high energy autonomy has ampli-
fied research into clean and mobile energy source developments. Among suitable and
promising technologies for this application, fuel cells, FCs are highlighted because of their
minimal emission of pollutants and high efficiency. One type of FCs that has yet to be
studied is the hydrogen peroxide/direct hydrogen peroxide fuel cell (DPPFCs). The present
work is dedicated to the development of DPPFCs of one compartment using copper hex-
acyanoferrates (CuHCFs) as cathodic material and a Ni grid as anodic material. CuHCFs
containing Fe
II
and/or Fe
III
were synthesized, characterized and their electrocatalyst per-
formances were compared in 0.1 mol L
1
HCl and 0.5 mol L
1
H
2
O
2
. The maximum power
densities reached for the CuFe
II
was 8.3 mW cm
2
and for the CuFe
II
Fe
III
was 2.9 mW cm
2
.
The CuHCFs cathode materials show promising results, standing out as innovative mate-
rials for such an application.
© 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Introduction
Alternative technologies have drawn researchers’ attention to
solving the environmental problems caused by dependence
on fossil fuels. Among these technologies, fuel cells (FCs) are
highlighted due to their minimal emission of pollutants and
high efficiency [1e6]. One type of FCs that has been little
studied is the DPPFC [7e9]. In this type of cell, hydrogen
peroxide (H
2
O
2
) is both oxidant and fuel, replacing oxygen (O
2
)
and hydrogen (H
2
) from more traditional FCs. The duality of
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: renatamart@gmail.com (R.F. Martins).
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/he
international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.01.077
0360-3199/© 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article as: Martins RF et al., Copper hexacyanoferrate as cathode material for hydrogen peroxide fuel cell, International
Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.01.077