Fuel Cell Performances of Bio-Membranes Made of Chitosan-Polyelectrolyte Thin Films and Nanowires into Anodic Alumina Membranes

Chitosan (CS) / Phosphotungstic acid (PTA) polyelectrolytes in the shape of thin films and nanowires supported by Anodic Alumina Membranes (AAM) have been fabricated through solution cast and filtration techniques, respectively. Their ability to function in a H2/O2 fuel cell under mild conditions (room temperature, low humidity and low Pt loading) is proved for the first time. The fabricated membrane electrode assemblies produce power peaks of ~20 mW cm-2 for both films and nanowires. The CS/PTA films (20-40 μm thick) are able to produce a quite constant power density of ~10 mW cm-2 recorded for at least 7 h. The gradual decrease of the power output with time observed for CS/PTA nanowires in AAM supports (50 μm thick) is accompanied by a durability of about 6 h, which represents an improvement with respect to previous results obtained in AAM-based fuel cell.