Explanation

fuel cell is a kind of battery that uses OH - ion (hydroxyl ion) as electrolyte conduction material. Generally, it operates in the temperature range of 60 ° C to 250 ° C, and can provide dozens of kilowatts of output power. In these reactions, oxygen is reduced at the cathode to generate water. OH - ions are conducted through electrolytes, migrate to the anode, and react with hydrogen gas to generate water. The most commonly used elonrolyte is an aqueous solution of hydroxyl (OH -), such as potassium hydroxide (KOH). However, when used on Earth, KOH reacts with carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere to generate potassium carbonate (K2CO3), reducing the concentration of OH ions and thus reducing the conductivity of electrolytes. In addition, the low water solubility of K2CO3 will also lead to the formation of solid particles, which will block the channels in the gas diffusion electrode and reduce the diffusion speed of gas. Therefore, using KOH as an electrolyte on Earth is not suitable. However, in outer space without CO2, the use of KOH is feasible. In order to solve this problem, researchers are currently studying solid polymer elonrolyte that can conduct OH ions. These elonrolyte have different chemical structures, but they all have high CO2 resistance. The side chain end groups of such elonrolyte usually contain - NR3 or - PR2 groups, where OH ions are usually used for conduction, and R is an organic group. Although the CO2 resistance of these electrolytes has significantly improved, they are still under research and exploration, and there are currently no commercial products available. Although platinum based precious metals have the best catalytic performance, such fuel cell can also use non platinum metals such as nickel (Ni) as catalysts to reduce costs.

Classification