High-performance split pH and alkaline direct xylitol fuel cells using anion exchange membranes or a cation exchange membranes

In this work we report on the use of xylitol as a viable fuel source for an abiotic fuel cell. Xylitol is a five-carbon sugar alcohol that can be derived from renewable, second-generation biomass sources and is considered a platform chemical for industrial processes. Oxidation of xylitol in a fuel cell produces significant amounts of power and can also simultaneously produce valuable products. A maximum power density of 50 mW cm −2 is achieved with the alkaline direct liquid fuel cell (DLFC) powered by 0.5 M xylitol at 60 °C. A maximum power density of 315 mW cm −2 is achieved when 0.5 M xylitol is used in a split pH DLFC, also operating at 60 °C, with 3% hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant. This is the first report in the open literature to our knowledge of an abiotic xylitol fuel cell, and we demonstrate that it provides comparable power to other small organic molecules in these fuel cell designs.