The catalysis of NAD⁺ on methanol anode oxidation electrode for direct methanol fuel cell

Abstract

A tentative idea of developing a liquid-catalytic system on methanol anode oxidation was proposed by analyzing the characteristics of methanol anode oxidation in direct methanol fuel cell. The kinetics of methanol oxidation at a glassy carbon electrode in the presence of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺) was investigated. It is found that the current density of methanol oxidation increases greatly and the electrochemical reaction impedance reduces obviously in the presence of NAD⁺ compared with those in the absence of NAD⁺. The catalytic activity of NAD⁺ is sensitive to temperature. When the temperature preponderates over 45°C, NAD⁺ is out of function of catalysis for methanol oxidation, which is probably due to the denaturation of NAD⁺ at a relatively high temperature.

Keywords

direct methanol fuel cell / electrocatalytic oxidation / nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide

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