Catalysts for direct ethanol fuel cells

Ethanol oxidation at the anode of a fuel cell requires the development of a catalyst. The complete anode reaction involves the breaking of C-H bonds, and C-C bonds as well as the formation of C=O bonds. New alloys for this catalysis were investigated. The standard cell potential for the ethanol reaction was 1.14 v, ∼ 90 mv less then the H₂/O₂ cell, while the open circuit of the ethanol cell, measured ≤ 808 mv was < 200 mv below that of the common H₂/O₂ cell. This reasonably high open circuit potential is a promising number considering the relatively unresearched array of possible catalytic particles available. However, the extraordinarily low current densities demonstrated that this presently employed catalysis is insufficient at extracting power from the fuel.