Silver-Plated Electrospun Fibrous Anode for Glucose Alkaline Fuel Cells

This investigation is part of an effort to develop a low cost glucose-fueled fuel cell for portable devices. Electrospinning, a method that can produce high surface-to-volume ratio membranes, was used to fabricate micrometer-size polycaprolactone (PCL) fibrous electrocatalytic anode membranes for the oxidation of glucose in an alkaline fuel cell. The membranes were coated with silver using the electroless plating method that covered the whole surface of the fibers and gave the mat electrical conductivity and catalytic capability to oxidize glucose. The plated PCL membranes served as anodes in a fuel cell supplied with glucose and KOH electrolyte. With a mean plated fiber diameter membrane, the cell produced an open circuit voltage (OCV) of and a peak power density of . For a fiber membrane, the OCV was and the was . For comparison, a pure silver foil anode was placed in the same cell under the same conditions. In this case the OCV was and the reached . The experimental results indicate that the electrical performance of the fuel cell is proportional to the surface area of the fibrous anodes.