Catalytic action of rare earth oxide(La_(2)O_(3),CeO_(2),Pr_(6)O_(11))on electrochemical oxidation of activated carbon in molten KOH-NaOH

The oxidation of anode carbon fuel directly affects the electrochemical performance of molten hydroxide direct carbon fuel cell(MHDCFC).In general,the anode carbon fuel can be oxidized at high temperature,thus the direct carbon fuel cell(DCFC)can show great electrochemical performance.In this study,rare earth oxides(La_(2)O_(3),CeO_(2),Pr_(6)O_(11))were prepared by the method of precipitation.Activated carbon was prepared by pretreatment of lignite.Rare earth oxides and activated carbon were mixed as anode carbon fuel,and rare earth oxides were used to catalyze the electrochemical oxidation of anode carbon fuel.The results show that CeO_(2)has better electrocatalytic activity compared with La_(2)O_(3)and Pr_(6)O_(11) in the MHDCFC.The electrochemical test results show that the current density(at 0.4 V)increases from 81.02 to 112.90 mA/cm^(2)and the maximum power density increases from 34.78 to 47.05 mW/cm^(2)at 450℃,when the mass fraction of CeO_(2)is increased from 0 to 40%.When the mass fraction of CeO_(2)is 30%,the current density(82.55 mA/cm^(2)at 0.4 V)at 400℃is higher than that(81.02 mA/cm^(2)at 0.4 V)without CeO_(2)at 450℃.The electrochemical oxidation mechanism of CeO_(2)catalyzed anode carbon fuel is discussed.