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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

A Guide to Concentration Alternating Frequency Response Analysis of Fuel Cells
Published on: December 11, 2019
Production of electrical energy from carbohydrates using a transition metal-catalysed liquid alkaline fuel cell
J McGinley1, F N McHale, P Hughes
1School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster, Cromore Road, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland.
Abstract:
Biomass may be converted to energy by enzymatic hydrolysis to monomer components and fermentative conversion of those products to ethanol for use as fuel. Both glucose and xylose in aqueous solution were directly converted to electrical energy using a liquid alkaline fuel cell (AFC) at room temperature. Hydrolysis products derived from the action of cellulase and amylase on cellulose and starch, respectively, were also used as fuels in the AFC system. We suggest that this approach may provide a more direct means of accessing some of the energy available from biomass.
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