Glycerol oxidation in a microfluidic fuel cell using Pd/C and Pd/MWCNT anodes electrodes

Pd/C and Pd/MWCNT based electro-catalysts were prepared by impregnation and used as anodes for glycerol electro-oxidation in a microfluidic fuel cell. Average particle size and lattice parameters of the catalysts were determined by X-ray diffraction, resulting in 7.5 and 3.5 nm for Pd/C and Pd/MWCNT respectively. The electro-catalytic activity of Pd/C and Pd/MWCNT was investigated in 0.1 M glycerol. The results obtained by electrochemical studies in half cell configuration showed that the onset potential for glycerol oxidation on Pd/MWCNT was characterized by a negative shift ca. 40 mV compared to Pd/C. The maximum power density obtained was 0.51 and 0.7 mW cm⁻² for Pd/C and Pd/MWCNT respectively. These results are comparable with those obtained for a microfluidic fuel cell that uses glucose as fuel. The results of this work not only show that glycerol can be used as fuel in a microfluidic fuel cell but also its performance is similar to that obtained with others fuels.