Carbon-Supported Au Hollow Nanospheres as Anode Catalysts for Direct Borohydride−Hydrogen Peroxide Fuel Cells

The carbon-supported Au hollow nanosphere (HNAu/C) composite electrocatalyst was prepared by sacrificial templates at room temperature. The catalytic activity of HNAu/C and carbon-supported Au solid nanoparticles (SNAu/C) for BH 4 − were compared. Cyclic voltammogram (CV) results showed that the HNAu/C catalysts exhibit a higher catalytic activity for BH 4 − electro-oxidation. A simple direct borohydride−hydrogen peroxide fuel cell using HNAu/C as anode catalysts and SNAu/C as cathode catalysts was fabricated. The effect of sodium hydroxide and borohydride concentrations for the cell performance was studied. It was found that optimum anolyte consists of 1 M borohydride and 3 M sodium hydroxide. The maximum power density achieved was 25.8 mW cm −2 at a current density of 50 mA cm −2 .