The Cover Feature shows a simple commercial direct methanol fuel cell in small detector ring Positron Emission Tomography (PET) camera for imaging of the electrocatalytic processes. PET images present coverage degree and distribution 11C-labeled with its derivatives along perforated plate holes anode (front) cathode (back) sides. inhomogeneous radioactivity confirms performance degradation on c...

This paper presents our recent effort on application of nanoimprint technology into passive MEMS-based direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) for chip-scale power-embedded system. We fabricated and characterized five kinds of micro DMFC with different nanoimprint pattern and catalyst layers. It was found that the measured fuel cell performance varied with the nanoimprinted patterns because they affec...

The first enzyme-based catalyst that is superior to platinum in the four-electron electroreduction of oxygen to water is reported. The smooth Pt cathode reached half and 90% of the mass transport-limited current density at respective overpotentials of -0.4 and -0.58 V in 0.5 M sulfuric acid, and only at even higher overpotentials in pH 7.2 phosphate buffer. In contrast, the smooth "wired" bilir...

Plasmonics can improve the performance of polymer solar cells (PSCs) by localizing and concentrating light, and the location of the plasmonic metallic nanostructure in devices plays an important role in how to design high-performance plasmonic solar cells. Here, by varying the location of silver nanowires (Ag NWs) within the device architecture (at the interface between indium–tin–oxide and cat...

Electrochemical oxidation of some dyes making wastewater assisted by transition metal (Co, Cu) modified kaolin in an electrolytic cell with graphite plates as electrodes was investigated. H2O2, produced on the surface of porous graphite cathode reacts with the (Co, Cu) modified kaolin catalyst to form strong oxidant (hydroxyl radicals HO*) that can in turn degrade the pollutants adsorbed on the...

The inadequate activity and stability of Pt as a cathode catalyst under the severe operation conditions are the critical problems facing the application of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Here we report on a novel route to synthesize highly active and stable oxygen reduction catalysts by depositing Pt monolayer on a nitrided alloy core. The prepared PtMLPdNiN/C catalyst retains ...

The performance of an alternative membrane based on aromatic multiblock copolymer was compared to that the conventional perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) polymer during fuel cell operation. with exhibited more severe voltage loss than at current densities above 0.6 A/cm2 fully saturated reactants. To rationalize this difference, operando high-resolution neutron imaging used investigate water distri...

Recently, Pt-Y alloy has displayed an excellent electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and is regarded as a promising cathode catalyst for fuel cells. However, the bulk production of nanoscaled Pt-Y alloy with outstanding catalytic performance remains a great challenge. Here, we address the challenge through a simple dealloying method to synthesize nanoporous Pt-Y alloy ...