Harvard's Fuel Cell To Produce Power Even When Hydrogen Is Exhausted
Harvard scientists researching on materials have come up with a technique that converts hydrogen into electricity and stores this electrochemical energy  just like a battery. What they have generated is a solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) that continues to give power for a short time even after the fuel (hydrogen) has been exhausted. How awesome is that? Imagine an electric stove that remains hot during a power outage. This method of clean energy generation is highly useful. It makes use of a  thin-film SOFC that incorporates a versatile, new material called "Vanadium oxide (VO<sub>x</sub>)". It is this material that makes it possible for the fuel cell to both generate and store energy.
![[IMG]](proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crazyengineers.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F06%2FNew-Fuel-Cell-Keeps-Going-After-the-Hydrogen-Runs-out.jpeg&hash=0c7e7d09798bb491708149177adb0b0b)
Shriram Ramanathan's laboratory setup for testing solid-oxide fuel cells. (Photo by Caroline Perry, SEAS Communications.)
The new SOFC uses a bilayer of platinum and VO<sub>x</sub> for the anode. So the cell continues operating without fuel for up to 14 times as long. Shriram Ramanathan, Associate Professor of Materials Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), who is currently working on this project, alongwith Van Overmeere, and Kian Kerman can see that their concept can be really useful in applications such as Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), where it's impossible to refuel in the field, an extra boost of stored energy could extend the device's lifespan significantly.
The team is working on improvements to the composition of this material and predicts that they will achieve a longer lifespan for the fuel in the coming 2 years. Those interested in knowing the details of the project can head over to #-Link-Snipped-#.
Shriram Ramanathan's laboratory setup for testing solid-oxide fuel cells. (Photo by Caroline Perry, SEAS Communications.)
The new SOFC uses a bilayer of platinum and VO<sub>x</sub> for the anode. So the cell continues operating without fuel for up to 14 times as long. Shriram Ramanathan, Associate Professor of Materials Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), who is currently working on this project, alongwith Van Overmeere, and Kian Kerman can see that their concept can be really useful in applications such as Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), where it's impossible to refuel in the field, an extra boost of stored energy could extend the device's lifespan significantly.
The team is working on improvements to the composition of this material and predicts that they will achieve a longer lifespan for the fuel in the coming 2 years. Those interested in knowing the details of the project can head over to #-Link-Snipped-#.
0