Porous Silicon Membrane Based Formic Acid Fuel Cells for Micro Power Generation

Most importantly in this work, porous silicon is demonstrated to be a novel proton conducting membrane material for implementation of micro silicon fuel cells. With 5 M formic acid plus 0.5 M sulfuric acid as the fuel, the micro fuel cell based on a p-type porous silicon membrane produces peak power density about 30 mW/cm2 at current density of about 120 mA/cm 2. Another design of micro fuel cells based on an n-type porous silicon membrane for the improvement of the power output is also presented. Micro fuel cells are fabricated using porous silicon membranes with different thickness and different pore morphologies, and their performances are tested. Fuel solutions with different formic acid concentrations are also tested. The fuel cell peak power density reached 94 mW/cm2 at current density level of 314 mA/cm2.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Chu, Kuan-Lun

Contributors dc:contributor

• Masel, Richard I.

• Engineering, Electronics and Electrical

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3269862

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/81006