Portable Electrochemical Oxygen Concentrator for Battlefield Combat Casualty Care

摘要

The primary goal of this overall research and development program is to design and construct a portable electrochemical oxygen concentrator (PECOC) capable of producing nearly pure ( > 98%) oxygen from the ambient atmosphere at room temperature. This novel device relies on the two-electron reduction of oxygen to peroxide at a high area carbon-based, gas-permeable, Teflon-bonded (HAC-GPTB) cathode, which then migrates through a thin solid polymer electrolyte(SPE) membrane to a gas-diffusion (GD) anode, where it is oxidized to yield dioxygen. Two major aspects were emphasized during this first six-month period: the identification of highly active, highly specific electrocatalysts for the two-electron reduction of O2 to peroxide and for the oxidation of peroxide to O2 in acid media and the construction of a prototype stack reactor capable of delivering pure oxygen at levels comparable to those required for field medical applications (3 L/min). Significant progress was made in both of these areas. In particular, a simple surface modifier for platinum was found to promote the quantitative reduction of dioxygen peroxide at small overpotentials in dilute phosphoric acid as evidenced by rotating ring-disk techniques results. Furthermore, a full size PECOC unit built from commercially procured materials was shown to deliver pure dioxygen in several independent trials.