Hierarchical Nanostructures for Fuel Cells and Fuel Reforming - Hierarchical Nanostructures for Energy Devices - page 84

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CHAPTER 5
Hierarchical Nanostructures
for Fuel Cells and Fuel
Reforming

NICO HOTZ

Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science,
Duke University, Box 90300, Durham, NC 27708, United States
Email: [e-mail]

5.1 Introduction
Fuel cells are a promising technology as an alternative to combustion en-
gines for clean and ecient electricity generation. Since fuel cells can reduce
our dependence on fossil fuels, the environmental and geopolitical advan-
tages of fuel cells are tremendous. Fuel cells can be seen as a hybrid between
combustion engines and batteries in terms of their functional principle: like
combustion engines, fuel cells are fed by a chemical fuel as an energy source.
However, like batteries, they directly convert chemical to electrical energy,
avoiding the process of combustion, which creates pollution, noise, and
ineciencies. Fuel cells, on the other hand, offer high fuel-to-electricity ef-
ficiencies and low emissions without noise pollution. 1 Furthermore, fuel cell
systems are perfect for distributed power generation due to their compact
and modular design. 2-5
Polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMFCs) and solid oxide fuel cells
(SOFCs) are the focus of this chapter. These fuel cell types eliminate the
usage of corrosive liquids, as used in phosphoric acid, alkali, and molten
carbonate fuel cells. The main topic is the application of nanostructured

.