Nanoporous silver for electrocatalysis application in alkaline fuel cells

Daria Barsuk (1) , Anicet Zadick (2) , Marian Chatenet (2) , Konstantinos Georgarakis (3, 1) , Nikolaos T. Panagiotopoulos (1) , Yannick Champion (1) , Alberto Moreira Jorge (4, 2)

1 SIMaP - Science et Ingénierie des Matériaux et Procédés
2 LEPMI - Laboratoire d'Electrochimie et de Physico-chimie des Matériaux et des Interfaces
3 Tohoku University [Sendai]
4 UFSCar - Universidade Federal de São Carlos [São Carlos]

Self-supporting porous silver foils with an average pore size <100 nm were produced from a crystalline silver-based ternary alloy as a precursor by removing second phases present in the silver matrix. The final Ag-based porous foil shows good mechanical properties when comparing to its previous amorphous analogues. Its activity for direct electrochemical oxidation of ammonia-borane (AB), a fuel of interest for direct liquid fuel cells, has been investigated in alkaline media. The material exhibits promising electrochemical properties in long-term operation; indeed, material composition and nanostructure remain similar after 15,000 cyclic-voltammetries between -0.3 and 0.5 V vs. RHE in a 0.1M NaOH+ 5mMAB solution thermostated at 25 degrees C. Nanoporous materials, and in particular nanoporous silver, can therefore represent a relevant choice as anode in direct ammonia-borane fuel cell. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Domaines: Matériaux

Daria Barsuk, Anicet Zadick, Marian Chatenet, Konstantinos Georgarakis, Nikolaos T. Panagiotopoulos, et al.. Nanoporous silver for electrocatalysis application in alkaline fuel cells. Materials & Design, 2016, 111, pp.528 - 536. ⟨10.1016/j.matdes.2016.09.037⟩. ⟨hal-01517194⟩