Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars - The Cars of the Future

Hydrogen fuel cell cars are the future. These revolutionary cars work in a very special way - they use hydrogen and oxygen to power a fuel cell, a device used to generate electricity from a chemical reaction. In this case, the reaction is the creation of water: 2H₂ + O₂ → 2H₂O.

This specific fuel cell is called a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM). It is called that way because it creates protons (H⁺ ions) from hydrogen (H₂) molecules. Here is a picture describing the process very well:

proton exchange membrane hydrogen fuel cell

Hydrogen gets into the fuel cell
Hydrogen atoms go through the anode and give in their electron. The result is one electron and one H⁺ ion (proton).
The electrons flow in a circuit to power an electric device.
The protons go through the electrolyte to the cathode.
On the cathode, oxygen molecules (O₂), hydrogen protons (H⁺) and electrons are combined to create water (H₂O).

Although this seems like a perfect solution, hydrogen fuel cells have some disadvantages that prevent them from being widely used in cars today:

Safety - hydrogen is a highly combustible gas. Any little accident can become a big disaster with a big amount of hydrogen stored in cars.
Storage - to power a car, a fuel cell needs a big amount of hydrogen. This hydrogen must be stored in the car, in big quantities. Cars will have to be bigger to make room for the big storage tanks.
Availability - right now there are not many hydrogen filling stations, and electrolysis during driving will not provide enough hydrogen for a smooth drive.
Hydrogen production - although hydrogen fuel cells do not pollute, a mass production of hydrogen does pollute. For example, electrolysis requires electricity, which comes from a polluting power plant. There are other processes that produce hydrogen, but they are polluting as well. The only way to create hydrogen without pollution is doing electrolysis using a non-polluting source, such as solar panels, wind turbines, hydro-electric plants, etc.

Information | Pictures