Alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cells for cogeneration of electricity and valuable chemicals

Abstract

Alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AAEMFCs) have received ever-increasing attentions due to the enhanced electrochemical kinetics and the absence of precious metal electrocatalysts, and thus great progress has been made in recent years. The alkaline anion exchange membrane based direct alcohol fuel cells, one type of alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cells utilizing liquid alcohols as fuel that can be obtained from renewable biomass feedstocks, is another attractive point due to its ability to provide electricity with cogeneration of valuable chemicals. Significant development has been made to improve the selectivity towards high added-value chemicals and power output in the past few years. This review article provides a general description of this emerging technology, including fuel-cell setup and potential reaction routes, summarizes the products, performance, and system designs, as well as introduces the application of this concept in the removal of heavy-metal ions from the industrial wastewater. In addition, the remaining challenges and perspectives are also highlighted.