A Direct Formaldehyde Fuel Cell for CO<sub>2</sub>‐Emission Free Co‐generation of Electrical Energy and Valuable Chemical/Hydrogen
Yang Yang, Xuexian Wu, Munir Ahmad, Fengzhan Si, Shujing Chen, Chunhua Liu, Yan Zhang, Lei Wang, Jiujun Zhang, Jing‐Li Luo, Xian‐Zhu Fu
Abstract
Abstract Converting carbon‐based molecular fuels into electricity efficiently and cleanly without emitting CO 2 remains a challenge. Conventional fuel cells using noble metals as anode catalysts often suffer performance degradation due to CO poisoning and a host of problems associated with CO 2 production. This study provides a CO 2 ‐emission‐free direct formaldehyde fuel cell. It enables a flow of electricity while producing H 2 and valuable formate. Unlike conventional carbon‐based molecules electrooxidation, formaldehyde 1‐electron oxidation is performed on the Cu anode with high selectivity, thus generating formate and H 2 without undergoing CO 2 pathway. In addition, the fuel cell produces 0.62 Nm 3 H 2 and 53 mol formate per 1 kWh of electricity generated, with an open circuit voltage of up to 1 V and a peak power density of 350 mW cm −2 . This study puts forward a zero‐carbon solution for the efficient utilization of carbon‐based molecule fuels that generates electricity, hydrogen and valuable chemicals in synchronization.