Abstract
A fuel cell is an electrochemical energy converter. Its operation is based on the electrochemical reactions happening simultaneously on the anode and the cathode. Electrochemical reactions involve both transfer of electrical charge and change in Gibbs energy. The Butler–Volmer Equation is valid for both anode and cathode reaction in a fuel cell. The rate of an electrochemical reaction is determined by an activation energy barrier that the charge must overcome in moving from electrolyte to a solid electrode or vice versa. In a hydrogen/oxygen fuel cell, the anode reaction is oxidation of hydrogen, in which hydrogen is stripped of its electrons, and the products of this reaction are protons and electrons. At equilibrium, the net current is equal to zero, although the reaction proceeds in both directions simultaneously. The rate at which these reactions proceed at equilibrium is called the exchange current density. The types of losses in a fuel cell are activation losses, internal currents and crossover losses, Ohmic (resistive) losses, and concentration-polarization losses. Exchange current density in electrochemical reactions is analogous to the rate constant in chemical reactions.
Published Version
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