Performance Characterization of a Hydrogen Peroxide Fuel Cell with Au-Electroplated Carbon Fiber Electrode

To begin, prepare two sets of hydrogen peroxide solutions. One set of solutions for pH gradient composed of 1 molar hydrogen peroxide having variable pH while the other set for concentration gradient composed of varying concentrations of hydrogen peroxide at pH 1. To characterize the fuel cell or FC performance by the electrochemical station or ES, first, wash the nickel foam and gold electroplated carbon fiber cloth electrodes with deionized water two times and place them aside.

For obtaining the open circuit potential or OCP data, use nickel foam as both RE and CE, and the gold electroplated carbon fiber cloth as the working electrode or WE.Next, add the appropriate hydrogen peroxide solution previously prepared to the test beaker. Connect electrodes to the ES before turning on the system. Set the program to open circuit potential time method, the run time to 400 seconds, the sample interval to 0.1 seconds, the high E limit to 1 volt, and the low E limit to 1 volt.

Run the program to measure the data, after that, close the program. To test the output performance of FC based on OCP data, set the program to LSV, OCP as initial E, and 0 volt is final E, corresponding to the conditions of open circuit and short circuit respectively. Run the program to collect the data.

Once done, close the program. Wash the beaker and electrodes before adding other required solutions for specific tests. After the experiments are complete, store the washed electrodes in a glass or plastic box.

The OCP durability of the FC determined that different hydrogen peroxide concentrations with a pH of 1 indicated that, in all cases, the electrode could operate continuously for at least 400 seconds without significant degradation. The FC performance was found to be sensitive to the solution pH. Under extreme acidic and basic conditions, the power output of the FC was relatively high.