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Abstract: A simple direct borohydride fuel cell (DBFC) was constructed by use of an MnO2-catalyzed air cathode and an Au-catalyzed anode. It is found that the MnO2 cathode not only exhibits considerable electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction in the solutions, but also shows indiscernible catalytic activities for the electrooxidation and chemical hydrolysis of ions. As a result, these DBFC cells can avoid not only the performance degradation of the cathode arising from “ crossover” but also do not need to use expensive ion exchange membranes and Pt catalyst in the cathode. Based on this new configuration of DBFC, we used nanosized Au particles as an anodic electrocatalyst to avoid the chemical hydrolysis of ions, thereby to realize the complete electrochemical oxidation of ions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Eu2O3 as a cathodic electrocatalyst was for the first time investigated and found to exhibit not only a high electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction, but also a strong tolerance to the attack of BH4 −. Based on these experimental findings, a simple membraneless direct borohydride fuel cell (DBFC) is assembled and exhibits a peak power density of 66.4mWcm−2 at 0.495V under ambient condition by using the Eu2O3-catalyzed cathode and hydrogen storage alloy anode. Since this new configuration of DBFCs can operate very well without the help of expensive cation-exchange membranes, it may provide a simple way to construct cost-effective and high efficient DBFCs for a number of portable applications. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]