Acidic Ionic Liquids Enabling Intermediate Temperature Operation Fuel Cells

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, vol. 13, pp. 8370–8382

Abstract

Herein we show that protic ionic liquids (PILs) are promising electrolytes for fuel cells operating in the temperature range 100–120 °C. N, N -Diethyl- N -methyl-3-sulfopropan-1-ammonium hydrogen sulfate ([DEMSPA][HSA]), N, N -diethyl- N -methyl-3-sulfopropan-1-ammonium triflate ([DEMSPA][TfO]), N, N -diethyl-3-sulfopropan-1-ammonium hydrogen sulfate ([DESPA][HSA]), and N, N -diethyl-3-sulfopropan-1-ammonium triflate ([DESPA][TfO]) are investigated in this study with regard to their specific conductivity, thermal stability, viscosity, and electrochemical properties. The [DEMSPA][TfO] and [DESPA][TfO] electrolytes offer high limiting current densities for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on platinum electrodes, that is, about 1 order of magnitude larger than 98% H 3 PO 4 . This is explained by the minor poisoning of the Pt catalyst and the significantly larger product of the oxygen self-diffusion coefficient and concentration in these two PILs.

Authors 8

1. Hui Hou Aachen Institute of Physical Chemistry

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Electrochemical Process Engineering (IEK-14), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Physical Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

2. Hanno Maria Schütz

   Karlsruhe Institute of Technology · Helmholtz-Institute Ulm

   Affiliation as printed

   Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU), Helmholtzstrasse 11, 89081 Ulm, Germany

   Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), P.O. Box 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany

3. Jürgen Giffin

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Electrochemical Process Engineering (IEK-14), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany

4. Klaus Wippermann

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Electrochemical Process Engineering (IEK-14), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany

5. Xinpei Gao

   Karlsruhe Institute of Technology · Helmholtz-Institute Ulm

   Affiliation as printed

   Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU), Helmholtzstrasse 11, 89081 Ulm, Germany

   Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), P.O. Box 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany

6. Alessandro Mariani

   Karlsruhe Institute of Technology · Helmholtz-Institute Ulm

   Affiliation as printed

   Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU), Helmholtzstrasse 11, 89081 Ulm, Germany

   Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), P.O. Box 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany

7. Stefano Passerini corresponding

   Karlsruhe Institute of Technology · Helmholtz-Institute Ulm

   Affiliation as printed

   Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU), Helmholtzstrasse 11, 89081 Ulm, Germany

   Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), P.O. Box 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany

8. Carsten Korte corresponding Aachen Institute of Physical Chemistry

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Electrochemical Process Engineering (IEK-14), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Physical Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany