Graphene as Thinnest Coating on Copper Electrodes in Microbial Methanol Fuel Cells

Dehydrogenation of methanol (CH3OH) into direct current (DC) in fuel cells can be a potential energy conversion technology. However, their development is currently hampered by the high cost of electrocatalysts based on platinum and palladium, slow kinetics, the formation of carbon monoxide intermedi...

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Published inACS nano Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 137 - 145
Main Authors Islam, Jamil, Obulisamy, Parthiba Karthikeyan, Upadhyayula, Venkata K.K., Dalton, Alan B., Ajayan, Pulickel M., Rahman, Muhammad M., Tripathi, Manoj, Sani, Rajesh Kumar, Gadhamshetty, Venkataramana
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States American Chemical Society 10.01.2023
Subjects
Bioelectric Energy Sources
Copper - chemistry
Electrodes
graphene
Graphite - chemistry
Methanol - chemistry
methanol dehydrogenation
methylotrophs
microbial corrosion
surface science
methylotrophs
microbial corrosion
graphene
surface science
methanol dehydrogenation
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Summary:Dehydrogenation of methanol (CH3OH) into direct current (DC) in fuel cells can be a potential energy conversion technology. However, their development is currently hampered by the high cost of electrocatalysts based on platinum and palladium, slow kinetics, the formation of carbon monoxide intermediates, and the requirement for high temperatures. Here, we report the use of graphene layers (GL) for generating DC electricity from microbially driven methanol dehydrogenation on underlying copper (Cu) surfaces. Genetically tractable Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.1 (Rsp), a nonarchetypical methylotroph, was used for dehydrogenating methanol at the GL-Cu surfaces. We use electrochemical methods, microscopy, and spectroscopy methods to assess the effects of GL on methanol dehydrogenation by Rsp cells. The GL-Cu offers a 5-fold higher power density and 4-fold higher current density compared to bare Cu. The GL lowers charge transfer resistance to methanol dehydrogenation by 4 orders of magnitude by mitigating issues related to pitting corrosion of underlying Cu surfaces. The presented approach for catalyst-free methanol dehydrogenation on copper electrodes can improve the overall sustainability of fuel cell technologies.
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ISSN:1936-0851
1936-086X
1936-086X
DOI:10.1021/acsnano.2c05512