Chinese researchers develop nickel catalyst fuel cell
Hydrogen fuel cells have a lot to recommend them. Fuel cells consume air and hydrogen and produce nothing but water and electricity. They provide a mechanism to get an electric vehicle with the type of range that drivers have come to expect along with the rapid re-fueling they are used too. Unfortunately, they have some serious drawbacks, namely the problem of distributing and storing the hydrogen as well as the high cost of the fuel cells themselves. A major factor in the cost is the need for precious metal catalysts to trigger the reaction that causes the electrons to be stripped off the hydrogen atoms. The precious metals are needed because of their ability to survive the acidic environment created by the presence of ionic hydrogen. Lin Zhuang of Wuhan University in China has developed a different fuel cell using a nickel catalyst on the anode. This catalyst triggers the generation of hydroxyl (OH) ions which are alkaline. Unfortunately, the current polymer membranes can't conduct these hydroxyl ions so the Chinese researchers developed a new membrane material that can pass these ions. The team also added chromium to the nickel to help prevent oxidation of the catalyst. So far, the power outputs being achieved are low but this is definitely a research path that has some potential for reducing the cost of the cells. Thanks to Martin for the tip!
[Source: Technology Review]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
paulwesterberg 7:45PM (1/05/2009)
Hydrogen is not very energy dense unless you waste a lot of energy compressing it so the range wont be much better than electric cars. And good luck finding a place to fill it up. If an electric car runs low you wont have too much trouble finding a place to plug in while you grab a bite to eat.
Unfortunately hydrogen is not naturally occurring and there are no processes to create it efficiently at low cost.
TFA says:
Fuel cells have a long way to go in terms of efficiency, long-term stability, and expense, says Frank DiSalvo, a professor of physical science at Cornell University, in Ithaca, NY.
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rem83 10:48AM (1/06/2009)
Well, hydrogen can pretty much be made on-demand from electricity anywhere there's water, but the equipment has to be able to produce it with acceptable levels of purity. Also, you then run into the problem of the energy source for the electricity, so you're really only moving the pollution from the vehicle to the power-plant. The advantage of doing this is that power plants can achieve much higher thermodynamic efficiency, and even with transmission losses, etc... you should be able to move from point a to point b with less energy than if you used an IC engine and you can choose your energy source. I would still have to agree that I don't believe fuel cells are a realistic solution for energy storage on electric cars.
On a side note, I attended a 50 minute lecture from professor DiSalvo (I think, it was part of an energy systems seminar) back in the fall of 2006, where he presented the challenges that face fuel cell development, which included hydrogen purity requirements and life cycle problems. I would be very interested to hear how things have changed since that time.
Chris M 8:38PM (1/05/2009)
Alkaline fuel cells have been used by NASA for years, but they require pure H2 and pure O2, they cannot tolerate any CO2. I suspect this Chinese fuel cell has the same problem.
But even if this "breakthrough" makes a cheap H2 fuel cell that can somehow deal with atmospheric CO2, the hydrogen hypers still have to deal with very expensive and bulky H2 storage and the high cost and limited availability of H2 fuel.
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Carney 11:56AM (1/06/2009)
Prior comments on this thread are all excellent.
Hydrogen fuel cells are a giant fantastic waste and will never be viable.
http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-hydrogen-hoax
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