The Performance And Electricity Generation Mechanism Of Alkaline Fuel Cells Fed With Different Biomass Wastes

The contradiction between economy,energy and environment is becoming more and more serious today.Therefore,human beings need to develop a clean renewable energy source.Organic waste contains abundant biomass and traditional waste disposal technologies are not only easy to produce environmental pollution,but also cause waste of resources.Fuel cell is a stable,green and clean energy conversion device and the use of organic waste as fuel for fuel cell electricity production will be of great significance to solve the energy crisis.In this paper,the Cu₂O-Cu composite catalyst is fabricated by a laser-irradiation method and the addition of Cu₂O-Cu composite in activated carbon air-cathode greatly improve the performance of the cathode.The electrochemical curves test determines that the optimal doping mass ratio of cathode Cu₂O-Cu composite is 1%and the LSV test shows that the highest current density of air-cathode reaches 42.5mA/cm²,which is 5.6 times higher than of bare air-cathode?7.5 mA/cm²?.In addition,the EIS and Tafel curve demonstrates that the incorporation of Cu₂O-Cu composite could improve the kinetics of air-cathode reaction.Then,the paper chooses a methyl viologen modified nickel foam electrode as anode and Cu₂O-Cu composite air-cathode as cathode,developed a high-performance alkaline fuel cell for the treatment of banana peels and fruit residues that are two kinds of typical food processing organic waste.Firstly,the banana peels are hydrolyzed by diluted sulfuric acid.The concentration of reducing sugar in hydrolysate is 22.04 g/L under the condition of 1 g banana peel,12.5 mL 1%diluted sulfuric acid,at 110?for 2 h.Then,banana peels hydrolysate is added to fuel cell to produce electricity.The results show that the maximum power density of fuel cell is 16.12 W/m².It could discharge continuously for 96.8 h and the total discharge capacity is 884 C.Meanwhile,orange,pear and apple residues are selected for juice treatment,and the fruit juices are added as substrates into the fuel cell for electrochemical analysis.The results show apple fuel cell performance is best.Its maximum power density is 20.63 W/m².In a word,the oxidation discharge of banana peels and fruit residues after pretreatment in the alkaline fuel cell is not only a new way for the disposal of organic waste,but also has great significance for the utilization of waste resources.