Abstract
Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (AEMFCs) are promising clean energy devices. To align their developmentwith sustainability goals, this study explores the integration of biomass-derived components into AEMFC cathodes.Biochar-based electrocatalysts were synthesized via hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of pine needles, a water-based, low-temperature process. Three processing strategies were investigated: direct HTC of raw biomass,HTC following biomass pre-treatment, and thermal post-treatment of the resulting hydrochar to promotegraphitization. In parallel, a biomass-derived anion exchange ionomer (AEI) was synthesized via polycondensationof 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid with p-phenylenediamine, followed by reduction and quaternization. The resultingfuran-based AEI was incorporated into the cathode and benchmarked against a PPO-based ionomer (PPO-LC).Electrochemical testing showed that the furan-based AEI led to lower performance, particularly fewer exchangedelectrons, though onset potentials remained comparable to the Pt/C reference. Hydrochar derived from raw pineneedles demonstrated favourable performance with minimal processing, avoiding organic solvents and loweringthe energy demand. In contrast, a high temperature post-treatment offered only marginal performance gainsat high energy cost, limiting its sustainability. This study highlights the importance of balancing performance,processing effort, and environmental impact in AEMFC electrode development.
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Published on: Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Energy 2025, 1, 7
Authors: S. Chandrasekaran, R. Narducci, E. Sgreccia, A. Haider, L. Pasquini, A. Marrocchi, E. Cerza, M. L. Di Vona and P. Knauth