Synthesis and Evaluation of High Surface Area Carbon Porous Media for Hydrogen- Bromine Fuel Cell

Venkata Yarlagadda and Trung Van Nguyen Department of Chemical& Petroleum Engineering The University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045, USA

Abstract

The active surface area of the carbon electrode plays a significant role in optimizing the performance of a H2-Br2 fuel cell. The active surface area of the porous carbon media used as electrodes for the bromine reactions in a H2-Br2 fuel cell is quite low. A common approach to increase the active surface area for the bromine reactions is to use multiple layers of these porous carbon media. While this approach increases the active surface area, it also increases the thickness and diffusion pathway for the reactants and products of the reactions and could lead to mass transport limited performance at higher current densities. An alternate approach to increase the active surface area without affecting the transport related morphological properties like porosity and tortuosity of the electrode is to grow nanotubes directly onto the electrode fiber surface to create high active surface area. Figure 1 shows a SEM micrograph of carbon nanotubes on the carbon fibers of a gas diffusion electrode synthesized by our group. This presentation will discuss the synthesis and characterization of this carbon nanotube-based material and its performance as a bromine electrode in a H2-Br2 fuel cell

Acknowledgements

This work was funded by NSF through grant number EFRI-1038234 and DOE/ARPA-E under award number DE-AR0000262.

Figure 1. High surface carbon electrode with carbon nanotubes on carbon fibers.