Fellow name: Kim Cross
Title of Lesson: Fuel Cells Powering Our Everyday Lives
School: University High School
Grade Level: 12th grade
Subject(s): Chemistry/Environmental Science
Summary
This lesson is designed to teach students why fuel cells are classified as renewable energy
sources. The focus will be on proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells which use
hydrogen as a fuel. Students will get an overview of how a fuel cell works by understanding
the components that make up a fuel cell and the reactants that are used to produce water
and electricity. Students will compare the “fuel cell effect” from a simple reverse
electrolysis experiment to an actual disectable PEM fuel cell.
In what way is this lesson/activity inquiry-based?
Day 1- Students are told how fuel cell works, what aspect of fuel cell research I am working
on, how catalyst work, and water splitting.
Day 2- During day 2 each group will have one electronic to calculate how many fuel cells
are needed to power the item based on the electrical output of the fuel cell.
Fuel cell optimization-students will propose ideas of how to optimize fuel cells based on
their experience from the activity. Based on their proposed ideas I will provide feedback on
what is going on in industry and research labs in various fuel cell initiatives.
Time Required
Two sessions
–Session A (Day 1). 20 minute overview of a comparison and contrast of a fuel cell to
a battery,
-Session A (Day 2)- Explanation of hydrolysis using the Hofmann apparatus.
-Session B. 60-75 minutes constructing both the “gas battery/homemade fuel cell”
to examine the fuel cell effect
Group Size
4 Students per group
Cost to implement
-Platinum coated wire-$140
-9 volt batteries-$30
Learning Objectives
After this lesson, students should be able to:
Not provided.
Introduction / Motivation
A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce
electricity, with water and heat as its by-product. . Since the conversion of the fuel to
energy takes place via an electrochemical process, not combustion, the process is clean,
quiet and highly efficient – two to three times more efficient than fuel burning. The other
electrochemical device that we are all familiar with is the battery. A battery has all of its
chemicals stored inside, and it converts those chemicals into electricity too. This means
that a battery eventually "goes dead" and you either throw it away or recharge it. With a
fuel cell, chemicals constantly flow into the cell so it never goes dead -- as long as there is a
flow of chemicals into the cell, the electricity flows out of the cell. Most fuel cells in use
today use hydrogen and oxygen as the chemicals.
Batteries versus fuel cells:
-Fuel cells are devices that convert fuel (such as hydrogen, methane, propane, etc.)
directly into DC electricity.
-The process is an electro-chemical reaction similar to a battery.
-Unlike a battery, fuel cells do not store the energy with chemicals internally.
-Instead, they use a continuous supply of fuel (chemical) from an external storage
tank.
Fuel Cells:
A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy. A fuel cell has two electrodes,
a negative anode and a positive cathode. The electrodes are in direct contact with the
electrolyte—a solution that conducts electricity well. Electricity, no matter how it’s made,
is a flow of electrons. The electrolyte facilitates the stream of electrons as they move from
anode to cathode through a circuit. Fuel cells are named by the type of electrolyte they use.
The illustration is a polymer electrolyte membrane, also known as a proton exchange
membrane fuel cell.
No other energy generation technology offers the combination of benefits that fuel cells do.
In addition to low or zero emissions, benefits include high efficiency and reliability, multi-
fuel capability, flexibility, durability, scalability and ease of maintenance. Fuel cells operate
silently, so they reduce noise pollution as well as air pollution and the waste heat from a
fuel cell can be used to provide hot water or space heating for a home or office.
There are many uses for fuel cells — right now, all of the major automakers are working to
commercialize a fuel cell car. Fuel cells are powering buses, boats, trains, planes, scooters,
forklifts, even bicycles. There are fuel cell-powered vending machines, vacuum cleaners
and highway road signs. Miniature fuel cells for cellular phones, laptop computers and
portable electronics are on their way to market. Hospitals, credit card centers, police
stations, and banks are all using fuel cells to provide power to their facilities. Wastewater
treatment plants and landfills are using fuel cells to convert the methane gas they produce
into electricity. Telecommunications companies are installing fuel cells at cell phone, radio
and 911 towers. The possibilities are endless.
What does Kim work on in her research lab
-Optimizing the catalyst layer inside the proton exchange membrane.
Demo About CatalystThe catalyst is crucial to the fuel cell. The catalyst forces the reaction to occur more rapidly,
as in the chemical equation below. Proton exchange membrane fuel cells use platinum as
the catalyst. The catalyst is made of platinum nanoparticles sprayed onto carbon paper or
cloth, much like silk screening on a shirt. Pressure forces gaseous hydrogen into the anode
side of the fuel cell through a gas diffusion layer (GDL) to the catalyst. When an H2 molecule
comes in contact with the platinum, it splits into two H+ ions and two electrons (e-). At the
cathode, oxygen is being forced through a different GDL to the catalyst where the oxygen
molecule combines with the four hydrogen protons and four electrons to form two water
molecules (2H2O).
Materials from lab for Demo
-30% hydrogen peroxide
-Potassium iodide (solution or solid)
-Liquid soap
-Graduated cylinder or 2-liter soda bottle
-Goggles, gloves, surface protector
Demo Procedure
-Place container on a protected countertop.
-Pour in ~50 mL of 30% hydrogen peroxide.
-Add a squirt of liquid soap.
-Add ~10 mL of potassium iodide solution OR 1/4
spoon of solid potassium iodide.
Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is always decomposing to release oxygen and water, but it does
so slowly. The potassium iodide is a catalyst causes the H2O2 to rapidly decompose. The
sudden release of oxygen makes the soap foam up and releases heat.
Questions/Observations during demo: What remains in the bottom of the bottle? Does this
reaction change the catalyst? What do you think you’d see if we didn’t use soap?
Procedure:
In this experiment, you will build a fuel cell using salted water as an electrolyte instead of a
proton exchange membrane. You will also make the hydrogen from the same water.
Vehicles carry the hydrogen in tanks and fuel at hydrogen stations, just as most vehicles
carry and refill with gasoline. This experiment will show you how hydrogen and oxygen
make electricity, and explain how the catalyst works.
Experiment Steps
1. Cut the wire into two six-inch long pieces. Wind each piece around a pencil to make a coil
spring. These are the electrodes.
2. Cut the leads of the battery clip in half and strip the insulation off of the cut ends. Twist
the bare ends of both red battery lead wires onto the end of one electrode. Twist the bare
ends of both black lead wires onto the end of the other electrode.
3. Tape the battery wires to the popsicle stick and place over the glass of water. The
electrodes should be submerged in the water, but not the bare wires from the battery leads.
4. Connect the other bare end of the red wire to the positive terminal of the volt meter and
the black wire to the negative terminal of the volt meter. The volt meter will read 0 volts or
0.01 volts.
5. Touch the 9-volt battery to the clip. This will cause electricity to fl ow through the anode
and into the water. The water will separate into hydrogen and oxygen in a process called
electrolysis. Hydrogen bubbles will cling to the anode and oxygen bubbles will cling to the
cathode.
• If electrolysis does not start in a minute or two, add salt or baking powder to the water.
Low mineral content in the water or low voltage in the battery may require a catalyst to
speed the electrolysis.
6. Remove the battery. Record the voltage on the volt meter and the time it takes for the
voltage to decrease.
Experimental procedure: Change Electrolyte
Acids and alkalis may also be used as the electrolyte (e.g. sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid or
caustic soda) but this is dangerous because of the caustic nature of the substances. We will
compare the effects of non harmful weekly dissociated acids.
-vinegar
-orange juice
Experimental procedure: Change Electrode
Platinum is need for fuel cells to function. This can be proven by using electrodes having no
catalytic effect. Two additional electrodes will be installed
-paper-clips
-leads from refillable pencils
Powering up Items
Each group will have to calculate how many fuel cells would be needed to power the
designated items and also based on that they observed what materials do they propose will
give the most optimal design
Example Group 1-Laptop Group 2-Cell phone…etc
Materials List
Each group will need:
-Small glass with water
- ½ to 1 tsp. table salt
-Digital voltmeter
- One 9 volt battery
-Wire leads with alligator clips (4)
-2 platinum wires as electrodes (6 inches each)
-Rubber bands (to secure wires on the glass)
-Popsicle stick or similar
-transparent tape
-Alternative electrodes
-Paper clips
-pencil leads
-Alternative energy source to “charge” the fuel cell
-vinegar
-orange juice
Safety Issues
Fragile Systems
Lesson Closure
Day 11. Using a worksheet label the various parts of a PEM fuel cell.
2. Provide suggestions of what type of items can be powered by fuel cells
Day 2- Questions to be answered during the activity
1. How long did it take for the electrolysis to start?
2. When you removed the battery, what was the initial volt meter reading?
3. Why did the voltage decrease over time?
4. If the fuel supply was steady, coming from a tank of stored fuel, would the voltage
decrease?
5. What happened to the hydrogen and oxygen molecules at the end of the reaction?
6. Why do we use platinum instead of copper or nickel wires for the electrodes?
7. What is the main difference in using fuel cells instead of batteries when producing
electricity for a vehicle?
Day 2- Group Discussion after activity
1. How many fuel cells and the components needed in the fuel cell to power each
groups respective items/electronics
2. What things should be considered when optimizing fuel cell technology
Is this lesson based upon or modified from existing materials? If yes, please specify
source(s) and explain how related:
This lesson was updated based on in initial procedure provided Introduction to Dr.
Schmidt’s fuel cell/”gas battery” experiment. See how to build your own fuel cell:
http://www.geocities.com/fuelcellkit/. This approach was simplified.
References
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Attachments
None
List CA Science Standards addressed
 Chemical Bonds
 Heat and Thermodynamics
 Electric and Magnetic Phenomena