Investigation of dual-functionalized novel carbon supported Sn material from corn stalk for energy storage and fuel cell systems on distributed generations

Abstract

In this study, firstly, the corn stalk (CS) treatment with HCl-supported Sn catalyst (CS-HCl-Sn) was synthesized by the treatment with 1–7 M HCl and addition of SnCl2 salt (10–50%) for hydrogen production. Secondly, this CS-HCl-Sn catalyst was used as an active supercapacitor material to store electricity. This sustainable material is defined as dual-functional and named ‘cap-cat’ (capacitor-catalyst). In this context, we examined the activity of the CS-HCl-Sn catalyst at different burning temperatures and times. The most active catalyst was obtained by burning the 20% SnCl2 salt at 400 °C for 45 min. As a result of experiments, the maximum hydrogen production rate (HPR) obtained from the methanolysis reaction of NaBH4 at 30 °C was found as 6261.5 mL/min/g cat. Secondly, within the scope of this study, the CV and charge–discharge curves of the prototypes produced were substantially similar to the ultracapacitor curves in the literature. At the current density of 1 A/g, the gravimetric capacitance of the prepared electrode was found to be 146.250 F/g. In addition, there are some problems such as sudden peaks, lack of sunlight, excessive wind, or windlessness on DG penetrations. Therefore, it aims to use the systems’ reliability and stability as a new dual-functional fuel cell-energy storage system approach, trimming the sudden peaks. When solar energy is out of production at night, it will be able to substitute them. Finally, it is purposed to provide reliability and stability of the systems using a new dual-functional fuel cell-energy storage system approach for distributed generation systems.