Nanosized Au particles were prepared as a cathode catalyst for the direct borohydride-hydrogen peroxide fuel cell (DBHFC) by impregnation methods. The structure and surface morphology of the carbon-supported gold catalyst (Au/C) were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was found that 10～20 nm Au particles deposited on Vulcan XC-72R carbon black. The cyclic voltammogram (CV) results showed that the onset of reduction current on the Au/C occurred at 0.85 V in 0.5 mol•L－1 H2SO4 and 2 mol•L－1 H2O2. Also, a simple DBHFC was presented in which the Au/C was used as the cathode catalyst and a hydrogen storage alloy as the anode catalyst. The maximum power density of 78.6 mW•cm－2 was obtained at 30 ℃. When operated at 50 ℃, the DBHFC gave a higher than 120 mW•cm－2 power density. Furthermore, the effect of H2SO4 and H2O2 concentrations on the performance of DBHFC was described. The results exhibited that the performance of DBHFC had a strong dependence on the acid concentrations when H2SO4 concentration was lower then 0.5 mol•L－1, while the H2O2 concentrations had little influence on the performance of DBHFC. The results showed that the optimum concentrations of H2SO4 and H2O2 were 0.5 and 2 mol•L－1, respectively.

Key words: hydrogen peroxide, electro-reduction, impregnation, direct borohydride-hydrogen peroxide fuel cell