A Vitamin C Fuel Cell with a Non-bonded Cathodic Interface

Abstract

Vitamin C is a naturally occurring molecule with antioxidant properties often playing pivotal role in many chemical and biochemical processes. We show that a cobalt based molecular electrocatalyst can mediate the electron donation from vitamin C that on coupling with a non-bonded and reversible electron acceptor, the electron flow between the half cells can be channeled in a precious metal free configuration. The non-bonded nature of the electron acceptor allowed fast interfacial kinetics even on simple carbon particles and arrested the cathode derived parasitic chemistry often encountered with molecular oxygen, the conventional electron acceptor in fuel cells. Consequently, the vitamin C fuel cell driven by non-bonded cathodic interface demonstrated performance metrics ∼ 18 times higher than precious metal based vitamin C-O 2 configuration. The renewable nature of the fuel and the precious metal free configuration in proposed non- bonded architecture noticeably reduce the cost of electricity per kW with potential practical applications for powering commercial electrical-appliances.