Method for preparing flexible membrane-free and wire-shaped fuel cell

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11069904-B1
Application number	US-201917055610-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jun 18, 2019
Priority date	Mar 11, 2019
Publication date	Jul 20, 2021
Grant date	Jul 20, 2021

Abstract

A method for preparing a flexible membrane-free and wire-shaped fuel cell is provided. A carbon nanotube sheet is twisted and loaded with a catalyst to obtain a (CNT)@Fe3[Co(CN)6]2 cathode electrode; the carbon nanotube sheet is twisted and coated with a nickel powder to obtain a CNT@nickel particle anode electrode; and the (CNT)@Fe[Co(CN)6]2 cathode electrode, the CNT@nickel particle anode electrode, and a fuel electrolyte of H2O2 are integrated in a silicone tube to obtain a flexible membrane-free and wire-shaped fuel cell. The flexible membrane-free and wire-shaped fuel cell of the present invention can generate an open-circuit voltage of 0.88 V, while having very good flexibility, and can be woven into textiles such as clothes, thereby having great application prospects in the field of portable energy supply.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for preparing a flexible membrane-free and wire-shaped fuel cell, comprising the following steps:
(1) weighing reagents of FeSO 4 .7H 2 O and K 3 [Co(CN) 6 ] and formulating the reagents into aqueous solutions of FeSO 4 .7H 2 O and K 3 [Co(CN) 6 ] respectively, mixing the aqueous solutions to obtain a suspension under a magnetic stirring, filtering the suspension to obtain a precipitate, washing the precipitate using deionized water, and performing a low-temperature drying under vacuum on the precipitate to obtain a catalyst Fe 3 [Co(CN) 6 ] 2 ;
(2) drawing a carbon nanotube sheet out from a carbon nanotube forest, and stacking a first number of layers of the carbon nanotube sheet, rolling the first number of layers of the carbon nanotube sheet into a cylindrical shape, formulating the catalyst Fe 3 [Co(CN) 6 ] 2 in step (1) and an ethanol solution into a catalyst solution with a predetermined concentration, and then uniformly drip-coating the catalyst solution onto the first number of layers of the carbon nanotube sheet with the cylindrical shape, before twisting the first number of layers of the carbon nanotube sheet with the cylindrical shape into a uniform (CNT)@Fe 3 [Co(CN) 6 ] 2 cathode electrode yarn by means of a motor;
(3) spreading a second number of layers of the carbon nanotube sheet on a glass sheet, and then ultrasonically dispersing a nickel nanopowder in a dimethylformamide (DMF) solution to prepare a dispersion, and then uniformly drip-coating the dispersion onto the second number of layers of the carbon nanotube sheet, before twisting the second number of layers of the carbon nanotube sheet into a CNT@nickel particle anode electrode yarn by means of the motor;
(4) after the CNT@nickel particle anode electrode yarn is naturally dried, by means of two synchronous motors, coating a layer of polypropylene (PP) monofilament on a surface of the CNT@nickel particle anode electrode yarn to obtain a CNT@nickel@PP electrode;
(5) weighing a hydrogen peroxide solution, a perchloric acid solution, and a sodium chloride salt solution to formulate a fuel electrolyte; and
(6) twisting and placing the (CNT)@Fe 3 [Co(CN) 6 ] 2 cathode electrode yarn and the CNT@nickel@PP electrode together into a silicone tube, and injecting the fuel electrolyte to the silicone tube, so as to obtain a flexible membrane-free and wire-shaped hydrogen peroxide fuel cell.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in step (1), the aqueous solutions of FeSO 4 .7H 2 O and K 3 [Co(CN) 6 ] have concentrations of 0.2 mol/L and 0.15 mol/L, respectively; the mixing of the aqueous solutions is performed at a volume ratio of 1:1, and the magnetic stirring is performed at a rotational speed of 240 revolutions per minute; the low-temperature drying under vacuum is performed for a time of 6 to 10 hours at a temperature of 40° C.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in step (2), the carbon nanotube sheet has a length of 15 cm and a width of 2.5 cm, and the first number of layers of the carbon nanotube sheet is 10; the predetermined concentration of the catalyst solution is 5 mg/ml, and an amount of the catalyst solution added dropwise is 1 ml; the twisting by means of the motor is performed at a rotational speed of 100 revolutions per minute for a time of 1 min.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in step (3), the carbon nanotube sheet has a length of 15 cm and a width of 2.5 cm, and the second number of layers of the carbon nanotube sheet is 10; in the dispersion, a concentration of the nickel nanopowder is 20 mg/ml, and an amount of the dispersion added dropwise is 2 ml; the twisting by means of the motor is performed at a rotational speed of 100 revolutions per minute for a time of 1 min.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in step (4), the two synchronous motors have a rotational speed of 50 revolutions per minute, and the PP monofilament has a diameter of 100 micrometers.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in step (5), a concentration of the hydrogen peroxide solution is 0.03 mol/L, a concentration of the perchloric acid solution is 0.15 mol/L, a concentration of the sodium chloride salt solution is 0.1 mol/L, and the hydrogen peroxide solution, the perchloric acid solution, and the sodium chloride salt solution are mixed at a volume ratio of 1:1:1.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the silicone tube in step (6) has an inner diameter of 0.1 mm and a length of 10 to 20 cm.

Assignees

• Univ Jiangsu

Inventors

• Ding Jianning
• Zhou Xiaoshuang
• Yuan Ningyi
• Hu Xinghao

Classifications

• Y02E60/10

  Energy storage using batteries · CPC title

• H01M4/8652

  as mixture · CPC title

• H01M4/8878

  Treatment steps after deposition of the catalytic active composition or after shaping of the electrode being free-standing body · CPC title

• H01M4/8828

  Coating with slurry or ink · CPC title

• H01M4/9083

  on carbon or graphite · CPC title