What is the principle of fuel cell power generation?

When the electrolyte is alkaline or neutral:

The electrode reaction of the negative electrode is: H? N-NH？ +4OH - 4e- = N？ ↑ + 4H？ O

The electrode reaction of the positive electrode is: 2H? O + O？ + 4e- = 4OH-

Total battery response: h? N-NH？ + O？ = N？ ↑ + 2H？ O

When the electrolyte is in an acidic environment:

The electrode reaction of the negative electrode is: H? N-NH2 - 4e-=N？ ↑+4H+

The electrode reaction of the positive electrode is: O? +4e- +4H+=4H？ O

Total battery response: h? N-NH？ + O？ = N？ ↑ + 2H？ O

Because the fuel cell converts Gibbs free energy in fuel chemical energy into electric energy through electrochemical reaction, it is not limited by Carnot cycle effect, so it has high efficiency; In addition, fuel cells use fuel and oxygen as raw materials; At the same time, there are no mechanical transmission parts, so there is no noise pollution and little harmful gas emission.

Therefore, from the point of view of energy saving and ecological environment protection, fuel cell is the most promising power generation technology.

Extended data:

Fuel cell is an electrochemical power generation device, which directly converts chemical energy into electric energy by electrochemical method at isothermal temperature, without the heat engine process and the restriction of Carnot cycle, so it has high energy conversion efficiency, no noise and no pollution, and is becoming an ideal energy utilization mode.

The principle of fuel cell is an electrochemical device, and its composition is the same as that of general battery. Its single cell consists of positive and negative electrodes (negative electrode is fuel electrode, positive electrode is oxidant electrode) and electrolyte. The difference is that the active substances in general batteries are stored in batteries, which limits the battery capacity. The anode and cathode of a fuel cell do not contain active substances themselves, but are only catalytic conversion elements.

Therefore, the fuel cell is a veritable energy converter, which converts chemical energy into electrical energy. When the battery works, fuel and oxidant are supplied from the outside to react. In principle, as long as the reactants are continuously input and the reaction products are continuously discharged, the fuel cell can continuously generate electricity.

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