Seminar I

Fuel Cells

M. ABISHEK
II – M.Sc. Materials Science
Introduction

 Fuel cells was first developed by Mr. William Groove, a lawyer cum Scientist in 1839.
Fuel Cells

A cell that converts chemical energy to electrical energy

Working of Fuel Cell

PEMFC
Main Components

 Electrolyte
 Catalyst
 Flow Fields
Electrolyte

 One of the main competent of fuel cell

 Electrolyte may be in the form of solid, liquid or polymer membrane
 Responsible for ion transfer and blocks the transfer of electrons
Catalyst

 A substance that speeds up the reaction by lowering the activation energy

 It should be chemically unchanged at the end of the reaction
 Commonly used catalyst in fuel cells are based on
Platinum
Palladium
Iridium
Carbon
Flow Fields

 Flow fields serves as a means for feeding oxygen to the cathode and fuel gas to the anode
 Flow field should be conductive and non corrosive in nature since it is used as connectors
or fuel cells.
 The electrons generated in the Anode side are collected using flow fields and transferred to
Cathode.
 Types of Flow fields.
Monopolar plates are used at the end
Bipolar plates are used in the interconnections
Types of Fuel Cells
Merits

 High efficiency
 Environmental friendly discharge only water
 Low noise and thermal pollution
Demerits

 Technology is currently expensive

 Hydrogen is mostly created by burning coal
 Pure hydrogen is difficult to handle
Thank You