At the present time the overwhelming majority of attempts to produce a viable fuel cell power unit for automotive purposes rely on polymer membrane electrolytes with platinum metal catalysis on both electrodes. In this paper it is shown that there are a number of advantages in terms of cost and feasibility in the alternative approach of using a free sulphuric acid electrolytic and non-platinum anodes. While development of polymer membrane electrolyte fuel cells (PMFCs) will undoubtedly continue there is as yet no clear route to a commercially viable power unit for automotive purposes. The article suggests that there is a strong case for a parallel development of uel cells using a fre sulphuric acid electrolyte. Stacks for such a power unit would consist largely of low cost plastics, the costly elements would be very thin (0.1 micrometer) gold conducting layers and platinum air electrodes all of which would be recoverable. By operating with a slight vacuum on the electrolyte any leakage would be air in rather than acid out. The attraction of using non platinum anodes is that despite their poorer performance, they should be much less subject to poisoning by carbon monoxide and even tolerant of minor quantities of sulphur. As already explained, such a system would have much simpler cooling and water control arrangements. Essentially it is suggested that there is a strong case for sacrificing performance for a much more robust and less expensive system.
A different approach to fuel cells for automotive propulsion
Neue Wege für die Herstellung von Brennstoffzellen für Fahrzeugantriebe
1997
7 Seiten, 1 Bild, 13 Quellen
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Englisch
Fahrzeugantrieb , Brennstoffzelle , Membran , Polymer , Elektrolyt , Platin , Katalyse , Elektrodenoberfläche , Schwefelsäure , Anode , Vakuum , Vergiftung , Kohlenmonoxid , Gold , Kosteneinsparung
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