Building a plastic hydrogen bomb

Building a plastic hydrogen bomb.Building you own solar battery.A flat panel solar battery.Build a hydrogen fuel cell.

Build a hydrogen fuel cell.

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A fuel cell is a device that converts a fuel such as hydrogen, alcohol, gasoline, or methane into electricity directly. A hydrogen fuel cell produces electricity without any pollution, since pure water is the only byproduct.

Hydrogen fuel cells are used in spacecraft and other high-tech applications where a clean, efficient power source is needed.

You can make a hydrogen fuel cell in your kitchen in about 10 minutes, and demonstrate how hydrogen and oxygen can combine to produce clean electrical power.

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To make the fuel cell, we need the following:

One foot of platinum coated nickel wire, or pure platinum wire. Since this is not a common household item, we carry platinum coated nickel wire in our catalog.

A popsicle stick or similar small piece of wood or plastic. A 9 volt battery clip. A 9 volt battery. Some transparent sticky tape. A glass of water. A volt meter.

The first step is to cut the platinum coated wire into two six inch long pieces, and wind each piece into a little coiled spring that will be theelectrodes in our fuel cell. I wound mine on the end of

the test lead of my volt meter, but a nail, an ice pick, or a coat hanger will do nicely as a coil form.

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Next, we cut the leads of the battery clip in half and strip the insulation off of the cut ends. Then we twist the bare battery lead wires onto the ends of the platinum coated electrodes, as shown in the photo. The battery clip will be attached to the

electrodes, and two wires will also be attached to the electrodes, and will later be used to connect to the volt meter.

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The electrodes are then taped securely to the popsicle stick. Last, the popsicle stick is taped securely to the glass of water, so that the electrodes dangle in the water for nearly their entire length. The twisted wire connections must stay out of the water, so only the platinum coated electrodes are in the water.

Now connect the red wire to the positive terminal of the volt meter, and the black wire to the negative (or "common") terminal of the volt meter. The volt meter should read 0 volts at

this point, although a tiny amount of voltage may show up, such as 0.01 volts.

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Your fuel cell is now complete.

To operate the fuel cell, we need to cause bubbles of hydrogen to cling to one electrode, and bubbles of oxygen to cling to the other. There is a very simple way to do this.

We touch the 9 volt battery to the battery clip (we don't need to actually clip it on, since it will only be needed for a second or two).

Touching the battery to the clip causes the water at the electrodes to split into hydrogen and oxygen, a process called electrolysis. You can see the bubbles form at the electrodes while the battery is attached.

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Now we remove the battery. If we were not using platinum coated wire, we would expect to see the volt meter read zero volts again, since there is no battery connected.

However, platinum acts as a catalyst, something that makes it easier for the hydrogen and oxygen to recombine.

The electrolysis reaction reverses. Instead of putting electricity into the cell to split the water, hydrogen and oxygen combine to make water again, and produce electricity.

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We initially get a little over two volts from the fuel cell. As the bubbles pop, dissolve in the water, or get used up by the reaction, the voltage drops, quickly at first, then more slowly.

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After a minute or so, the voltage declines much more slowly, as most of the decline is now due only to the gasses being used up in the reaction that produces the electricity.

Notice that we are storing the energy from the 9 volt battery as hydrogen and oxygen bubbles.

We could instead bubble hydrogen and oxygen from some other source over the electrodes, and still get electricity. Or we could produce hydrogen and oxygen during the day from solar power, and store the gasses, then use them in the fuel cell at night. We could also store the gasses in high pressure tanks in an electric car, and generate the electricity the car needs from a fuel cell.

How does it do that?

We have two things going on in this project — the electrolysis of water into hydrogen and oxygen gasses, and the recombining of

the gasses to produce electricity. We will look into each step separately.

The electrode connected to the negative side of the battery has electrons that are being pushed by the battery. Four of the electrons in that electrode combine with four water molecules.

The four water molecules each give up a hydrogen atom, to form two molecules of hydrogen (H2), leaving four negatively charged ions of OH-.

Hydrogen gas bubbles form on the electrode, and the negatively charged OH- ions migrate away from the negatively charged electrode.

At the other electrode, the positive side of the battery pulls electrons from the water molecules. The water molecules split into positively charged hydrogen atoms (single protons), and oxygen molecules (O2). The oxygen molecules form bubbles at the electrode, and the protons migrate away from the positively charged electrode.

The protons eventually combine with the OH- ions from the negative electrode, and form water molecules again.

The Fuel Cell

When we remove the battery, the catalytic action of the platinum causes the hydrogen (H2) molecules to break up, forming positively charged hydrogen ions (H+, or protons), and electrons.

The electrons do not recombine with the protons because they are attracted to the electrode, which is positively charged due to the reaction happening at the opposite electrode.

At that other electrode, the oxygen molecules in bubbles on the platinum surface draw electrons from the metal, and then combine with the hydrogen ions (from the reaction at the other electrode) to form water.

The oxygen electrode has lost two electrons to each oxygen molecule. The hydrogen electrode has gained two electrons from each hydrogen molecule. The electrons at the hydrogen electrode are attracted to the positively charged oxygen electrode. Electrons travel more easily in metal than in water, so the current flows in the wire, instead of the water. In the wire, the current can do work, such as lighting a bulb, or moving a meter.

Next: Radio

Fuel cells are a clean and quiet way to convert chemical-energy of fuels directly into electricity. Specifically, they transform hydrogen and oxygen into electric power, emitting water as their only waste product.

A fuel cell consists of two electrodes, an anode and a cathode, sandwiched around an electrolyte. (An electrolyte is a substance, usually liquid, capable of conducting electricity by means of moving ions [charged atoms or molecules]). The fuel—usually hydrogen—enters at the anode of the fuel cell while oxygen enters at the cathode. The hydrogen is split by a catalyst into hydrogen ions and electrons. Both move toward the cathode, but by different paths. The electrons pass through an external circuit, where they constitute electricity, while the hydrogen ions pass through the electrolyte. When the electrons return to the cathode, they are reunited with the hydrogen and the oxygen to form a molecule of water.

Fuel cells have several advantages: they are quiet, produce only water as a waste product, extract electricity from fuel more efficiently than combustion-boiler-generator systems. They can run on pure hydrogen—usually derived from methane by combining methane with steam at high temperature—or, in one recently developed design, on methane itself. Biomass, wind, solar power, or other renewable sources can supply energy to make hydrogen or other fuels for use in fuel cells, which could be installed in buildings (e.g., schools, hospitals, homes), in vehicles, or in small devices such as mobile phones or laptop computers. Fuel cells today are running on many different fuels, even gas from landfills and wastewater treatment plants.

The principles of the fuel cell were developed by Welsh chemist William Grove (1811–1896) in 1839. As early as 1900, scientists and engineers were predicting that fuel cells would be the primary source of electric power within a few years. It wasn't until the 1960s, however, when the U.S. National Aeronautics

and Space Administration (NASA) chose the fuel cell to furnish power to its Gemini and Apollo spacecraft, that fuel cells received serious attention. Today, NASA still uses fuel cells to provide electricity and water (as a byproduct) for the space shuttle.

For years, experts predicted that fuel cells would eventually replace less-efficient gasoline engines and other clumsy, dirty devices for extracting energy from fuel. These predictions have yet to be fully realized, even though fuel cells are becoming more widely used. Automobile manufacturers are developing ways to extract hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuels in on-board devices, allowing a fuel-cell vehicle to run on methanol (as with Mercedes-Benz's and Toyota's prototypes) or even on gasoline, as Chrysler is proposing. DaimlerChrysler expects to produce a fuel-cell bus for the European market by 2003. The proposed 70-passenger bus will cost approximately $1.2 million and have a range of about 186 mi (300 km) and a top speed of 50 MPH (80 km/h).

There are five basic types of fuel cells, differentiated by the type of electrolyte separating the hydrogen from the oxygen. The cells types now in use or under development are alkaline, phosphoric acid, proton exchange membrane, molten carbonate, and solid oxide.

Long used by NASA on space missions, alkaline cells can achieve power-generating efficiencies of up to 70%. NASA's fuel cells use alkaline potassium hydroxide as the electrolyte and the electrodes of porous carbon. At the anode, hydrogen gas combines with hydroxide ions to produce water vapor. This reaction results in extra electrons that are forced out of the anode to produce the electric current. At the cathode, oxygen and water plus returning electrons from the circuit form hydroxide ions that are again recycled back to the anode. The basic core of the fuel cell, consisting of the manifolds, anode, cathode, and electrolyte, is generally called the stack. Until recently, such cells were too costly for commercial applications,

but several companies are examining ways to reduce costs and improve operating flexibility.

The fuel-cell type most commercially developed today is the phosphoric acid, now being used in such diverse settings as hospitals, nursing homes, hotels, office buildings, schools, utility power plants, and airport terminals. They can also be used in large vehicles such as buses and locomotives. Phosphoric-acid fuel cells generate electricity at more than 40% efficiency. If the steam produced is captured and used for heating, the efficiency jumps to nearly 85%. This compares to only 30% efficiency for the most advanced internal combustion engines. Phosphoric-acid cells operate at around 400°F (205°C).

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Proton exchange membrane cells operate at relatively low temperatures (about 200°F [93°C]) and have high power density. They can vary their output quickly to meet shifts in power demand, and are suited for small-device applications. Experts say they are perhaps the most promising fuel cell for light-duty vehicles where quick startup is required.

Molten carbonate fuel cells promise high fuel-toelectricity efficiencies and the ability to consume coal-based fuels such as carbon monoxide. These cells, however operate at very high temperatures (1,200°F [650°C]) and therefore cannot be used in small-scale applications.

The solid oxide fuel cell could be used in big, high-power applications including industrial and large-scale central electricity generating stations. Some developers also see a potential for solid oxide use in motor vehicles. A solid oxide system usually uses a hard ceramic electrolyte instead of a liquid electrolyte, allowing operating temperatures to reach

1,800°F (980°C). Power generating efficiencies could reach 60%.

Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC), relatively new members of the fuel cell family, are similar to the proton exchange membrane cells in that they both use a polymer membrane as the electrolyte. However, in the DMFC, the anode catalyst itself draws the hydrogen from the liquid methanol, eliminating the need for a fuel reformer. Efficiencies of about 40% are expected with this type of fuel cell, which would typically operate at a temperature between 120–190°F (50–90°C). Higher efficiencies are achieved at higher temperatures.

Regenerative fuel cells use sunlight as their energy source and water as a working medium. These cells would be attractive as a closed-loop form of power generation. Water is separated into hydrogen and oxygen by a solar-powered electrolyser. The hydrogen and oxygen are fed into the fuel cell, which generates electricity, heat, and water. The water is then recycled back into the system to be reused.

See also Alternative energy sources; Electric motor; Electric vehicles; Electrical conductivity; Electrical power supply.

Resources

Periodicals

"DaimlerChrysler Offers First Commercial Fuel Cell Buses to Transit Agencies, Deliveries in 2002." Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Letter (May 2000).

"Will Fuel Cells Power an Automotive Revolution?" Design News (June 22, 1998).

Other

Adam, David. "Bringing Fuel Cells Down to Earth." Nature: Science Update. March 24, 2000 [cited October 26, 2002]. <http://www.nature.com/nsu/000330/000330-3.html>.

"Beyond Batteries." Scientific American.com. December 23, 1996 [cited October 26, 2002]. <http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000103AE-74A1-1C76-9B81809EC588EF21>.

Raman, Ravi. "The Future of Fuel Cells in Automobiles." Penn State University, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. May 7, 1999 [cited October 26, 2002]. <http://www.ems.psu.edu/info/explore/FuelCell.html>.

Laurie Toupin

KEY TERMS

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Anode

—A positively charged electrode.

Cathode

—A negatively charged electrode.

Cogeneration

—The simultaneous generation of electrical energy and low-grade heat from the same fuel.

Electricity

—An electric current produced by the repulsive force produced by electrons of the same charge.

Electrode

—A conductor used to establish electrical contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit.

Electrolyte

—The chemical solution in which an electric current is carried by the movement and discharge of ions.

Read more: Fuel Cells - Types of fuel cells - Hydrogen, Power, Electrolyte, Water, Electricity, and Anode http://science.jrank.org/pages/2880/Fuel-Cells.html#ixzz1GtBFSQ7q