Fuel Cell Technology and Its Importance to Society

A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts a source fuel into an electrical current. It generates electricity inside a cell through reactions between a fuel and an oxidant, triggered in the presence of an electrolyte. The reactants flow into the cell, and the reaction products flow out of it, while the electrolyte remains within it. Fuel cells can operate continuously as long as the necessary reactant and oxidant flows are maintained.
Fuel cells are different from conventional electrochemical cell batteries in that they consume reactant from an external source, which must be replenished – a thermodynamically open system. By contrast, batteries store electrical energy chemically and hence represent a thermodynamically closed system.
Fuel cells come in many varieties; however, they all work in the same general manner. They are made up of three segments which are sandwiched together: the anode, the electrolyte, and the cathode. Two chemical reactions occur at the interfaces of the three different segments. The net result of the two reactions is that fuel is consumed, water or carbon dioxide is created, and an electrical current is created, which can be used to power electrical devices, normally referred to as the load.
At the anode a catalyst oxidizes the fuel, usually hydrogen, turning the fuel into a positively charged ion and a negatively charged electron. The electrolyte is a substance specifically designed so ions can pass through it, but the electrons cannot. The freed electrons travel through a wire creating the electrical current. The ions travel through the electrolyte to the cathode. Once reaching the cathode, the ions are reunited with the electrons and the two react with a third chemical, usually oxygen, to create water or carbon dioxide.

Fuel cells may seem like a science fiction fantasy to many people, since they are an efficient and nonpolluting power source producing little noise and having no moving parts. But this futuristic energy source not only exists, it has played a key role in providing electricity on spacecraft since the 1960s. Currently, technologists are developing and adapting fuel cell technology for practical use in exhaust-free automobiles and in electricity-generating plants. In this article, the author discusses the possible applications, societal impacts, and safety concerns of fuel cell technology. He asserts that it is critical to incorporate fuel cell education in the technology education classroom in order to encourage its adoption.