Fuel Cell Advantages And Disadvantages

A fuel cell is a device that transfers the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction of positively charged hydrogen ions with oxygen or another oxidizing agent [1]. Fuel cells can produce electricity continuously until these inputs are supplied. The first fuel cells were invented in 1838. Since then, fuel cells have been used in many other applications. Fuel cells are used for primary and backup power for industrial, commercial and residential buildings and in inaccessible or remote areas. They are also used to power fuel cell vehicles, including automobiles, buses, boats, forklifts, motorcycles and submarines. Fuel is the challenge in front of the world in 21st century. Every year the global energy demand increases
Hydrogen is gaseous and this gives rise to storage and transport problems. Moreover many of the alternative fuels that could be used within fuel cells are still dependent on petroleum products. Once carbon atoms are in the fuel, carbon monoxide poisoning of typical fuel cell catalysts becomes problematic [4]. Researchers are turning to the natural world in an effort to see how sugars are oxidized by animals to produce power. The approaches by which common waste materials and the chemical energy locked within them could be utilised and would offer many benefits [5]. For example, if a molecule of glucose is oxidised completely to CO2 (with atmospheric O2 providing the oxidant), there are 24 electrons available for current generation. Furthermore, if the glucose is produced as a by-product of photosynthesis, then the process is carbon neutral, which clearly offers environmental benefits. Ever since Galvani first noticed the twitching of a frog’s leg upon application of an electric current, it has been known that
A schematic of a typical fuel cell is shown in “Fig. 1”. Two electrodes are separated by a semi-permeable membrane and placed into solution. A biological species like an enzyme or microbial cell can either be in solution (or a suspension) within the anodic compartment of the cell or alternatively be immobilised at the electrode. Once a suitable fuel is introduced, it is oxidised at the anode partially or totally and the electrons released by this process are used to reduce oxygen at the cathode. Bio-fuel cells are energy-conversion devices based on bio-electrocatalysis power influencing on enzymes or microorganisms. [8-11]. Researchers have also worked with microbial source as well as plant leaves extracts for replacing the regular battery fuel to make a bio-film electrode(BFE) in microbial fuel cell[12] and studied bio-film electrode potential(BFEP) using Cyclo Voltammetric(CV) technique. Secondly, they have also put efforts in using plant leaves extracts of plant - Vinca rosea[13] plant leaves from family Moringaceae and Polygonaceae[14] and azadirachta indica[15] as a non-conventional bio-electrochemical low power sources. Chemical reactions can proceed through direct electron transfer (DET), in which the electrons transfer directly between enzymes and electrodes[16], or through shuttle