Fuel cell HTML5

The fuel cell works as follows:

• On the anode side (-), an oxidation reaction takes electrons from a fuel.
• On the cathode side (+), a reduction reaction allows an oxidant to capture electrons.
• The electrons follow a separate path and deliver an exploitable current.

There are several types of fuel (ethanol, methanol) but it is mainly dihydrogen that is used. This is known as a "hydrogen fuel cell". The oxidant is always the oxygen of the air (O₂).

The hydrogen fuel cell is considered a clean energy source. It consumes hydrogen and oxygen, two elements that are abundant on Earth. In addition, the production of electricity from such a battery only emits water (H₂O). However, there are still some negative points that need to be resolved before considering scaling up:

• Platinum is used as a catalyst. It is a rare and polluting metal.
• As much as the hydrogen element (H) is abundant, so much the dihydrogen (H₂) is not. It must therefore be produced upstream, for example by electrolysis. This production consumes energy. The energy gain of the hydrogen fuel cell is reduced accordingly.
• Once H₂ is produced, it must be transported and stored. Dihydrogen is "extremely flammable" (remember the Hindenburg accident) and it takes a lot of energy to compress it in the gaseous or liquid state (at -250 ° C).

It remains a promising source of energy and many research projects are trying to solve or get around these problems.