fuel cells physics

Rohan Lakhani-150110106029 Karan Ladani-150110106028

G H PATEL COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

Subject: PhysicsTopic: Fuel Cell

Guided By Prepared ByProf.Smita Joshi

What is Fuel Cell? Fuel cell is a device that converts

chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent

Parts of Fuel Cells There are four main part of Fuel Cells

1. Anode2. Cathode3. Electrolyte4. Catalyst

Anode Anode is negative electrode of Fuel Cell. In most fuel cells, hydrogen is used as the

negative electrode in pure form or impure hydrogen is taken as obtained from hydrocarbon fuel, such as natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas.

Cathode Cathode is positive electrode of cell. It conducts the electrons back from the

external circuit to the catalyst, where they can recombined with the hydrogen ions and oxygen to form water.

Catalyst To speed up the chemical reaction, a catalyst

is included in the electrodes. The best catalyst are finally divided platinum or other platinum like metal deposited on or incorporated porous electrode material.

Diagram of normal Fuel cell

Working of Fuel cells Basically, two principal chemical reactions

occur at the interface of the three segments. The net result of the two reactions is that ,

when fuel is consumed, water is formed and an electric current is produced which can be use to power electrical devices, normally referred to as the load.

At the anode, a catalyst oxidize the hydrogen fuel into positively charged ion and negatively charged electron.

The electrolyte(KOH) allows the protons to travel to the cathode but blocks the electrons. Thus, the electrons travel through the wire creating the electric current,

The ions on reaching the cathode reunite with the electrons, and the two reacts with a third chemical, oxygen, to create water.

H2O2 Fuel Cell Hydrogen peroxide(HO) is commonly used as an

oxidizer in rocket. Propulsion and air independent power system.

In H2O2 fuel cells, nickel and silver are used as catalyst for hydrogen and oxygen respectively.

When used to produce energy, hydrogen peroxide creates only pure water and oxygen as a by product, so it is considered as clean energy, like hydrogen.

However, unlike hydrogen, H2O2 exists in liquid form at room temperature, so it can be easily stored and transported.

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Reference:-Engineering Physics

-by vijayakumari