Honeycombed Porous, Size-Matching Architecture for High-Performance Hybrid Direct Carbon Fuel Cell Anode

Direct carbon fuel cells (DCFCs) demonstrate both superior electrical efficiency and fuel utilization compared to all other types of fuel cells, and it will be the most promising carbon utilization technology if the sluggish anode reaction kinetics that derives from the use of solid fuel can be addressed. Herein, the electrode morphology and fuel particle size are comprehensively considered to fabricate an efficient DCFC anode skeleton. A honeycombed and size-matching anode architecture with dual-scale porous structure is developed by water droplet templating, which demonstrates an efficient strategy to address the challenge of poor carbon reactivity and improve the electrochemical performance of DCFCs. Single cell with this designed anode framework demonstrates excellent performance, and the maximum power density is as high as 765 mW cm-2 at 800 °C when using the matching carbon fuel. The size-matching between carbon fuel and anode framework shows a remarkable effect on the improvement of mass-transfer processes at the anodes. The significant contribution of the difficult electrochemical oxidation of carbon to the output performance is also demonstrated. These results represent a promising structural design strategy in developing high-performing fuel cells.