Types Of Fuel Cells Research Articles

Analysis of the potential of the electroactive biofilm growth in a microbial fuel cell type H

Microbial fuel cells (MFC) constitute an attractive alternative as an environmental remediation technology since they can generate electrical current using organic waste as a substrate. Since the performance of MFCs depends on the characteristics of the biofilm on the anode surface, it is important to assess the genetic information of the microorganisms that grow on the electrode. For this purpose, a sewage sludge sample was obtained from a wastewater treatment plant and used to inoculate a type H MFC. Electrochemical characterization, on one hand, indicates that while the biofilm has a typical electrochemical performance reflected by the generated voltage (near 0.4 V) and by the electroactivity observed in cyclic voltammetry experiments, and on the other hand, the metagenomic analysis shows that the most abundant genera are Pseudomonacea, Nitrosomonas, Hyphomonas, and Opitutus. The study also indicates that the biofilm’s electroactive microorganisms can metabolize amino acids, lipids, and carbohydrates and possess genetic tools for ionic transport and energy production. Regarding the electron acceptor/donator capabilities, several oxidases, reductases, and complexes were identified, mainly terminal cytochrome C oxidase and respiratory complex I, which could be associated with the exoelectrogenic capacity of the microorganisms. Finally, the metagenomic information indicates that the biofilm can synthesize rhamnose, sialic acid, and alginate molecules, which could possibly be associated with the formation and consolidation of the microbial biofilm.

Hydrogen as a deep sea shipping fuel: Modelling the volume requirements

Recent targets have increased pressure for the maritime sector to accelerate the uptake of clean fuels. A potential future fuel for shipping is hydrogen, however there is a common perception that the volume requirements for this fuel are too large for deep sea shipping. This study has developed a range of techniques to accurately simulate the fuel requirements of hydrogen for a case study vessel. Hydrogen can use fuel cells, which achieve higher efficiencies than combustion methods, but may require a battery hybrid system to meet changes in demand. A series of novel models for different fuel cell types and other technologies have been developed. The models have been used to run dynamic simulations for different energy system setups. Simulations tested against power profiles from real-world shipping data to establish the minimum viable setup capable of meeting all the power demand for the case study vessel, to a higher degree of accuracy than previously achieved. Results showed that the minimum viable setup for hydrogen was with liquid storage, a 105.6 MW PEM fuel cell stack and 6.9 MWh of batteries, resulting in a total system size of 8934 m3. Volume requirement results could then be compared to other concepts such as systems using ammonia and methanol, 8970 m3 and 6033 m3 respectively.

A Recent Comprehensive Review of Fuel Cells: History, Types, and Applications

This review discusses the history, fundamentals, and applications of different fuel cell technologies, including proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), direct methanol fuel cells, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFCs), alkaline fuel cells (AFCs), and molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs). Recent advances in fuel cell technologies have led to potential applications in aerospace, transportation, and portable and stationary power generation due to high efficiency and low emissions. Fuel cell types are also compared based on efficiency, operating temperature, lifetime, energy/power density, and cost. It was noticed that PEMFCs have the highest mass power density, reaching 1,000 W/kg compared to less than 100 W/kg for SOFCs, which makes them suitable for portable applications such as aircraft. PEMFCs and AFCs are suitable for low‐temperature applications and are highly efficient. SOFCs and MCFCs are better for high‐temperature operations. SOFCs are robust and suitable for high‐power demands, while MCFCs are advantageous for high‐power output. Hydrogen fuel cells promise to decarbonize transportation and aviation sectors with the advantages of lower weight, compactness, and quick startup times. However, challenges remain around renewable hydrogen production/infrastructure and aircraft integration, besides hydrogen storage, water management inside fuel cells, and operational robustness under varying pressures. Generally, for all fuel cell types, more focus should be given to enhancing the stability and efficiency of fuel cell materials and reducing their cost.

Metal−Organic Framework CPO-27 Derivatives As Non-Precious Metal Catalyst for Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Fuel cell stands as an environmentally friendly technology harnessing the power of hydrogen to generate clean water. In the range of fuel cell types, the anion exchange membrane fuel cell (AEMFC) stands out, effectively converting chemical energy to electricity without relying on platinum catalyst. Nonetheless, platinum catalyst is still used in addressing the sluggishness of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) during AEMFC operation. The scarcity and expense of platinum, however, hinder its widespread adoption. Furthermore, in the alkaline environment, platinum surface is covered with OH species, impeding active sites and diminishing electrochemical activity. Consequently, seeking an efficient, stable, and abundant platinum substitute is a primary target in the development of fuel cell.This study focuses on the development of the non-precious metal catalyst for the ORR in AEMFC. The catalyst, denoted as NiCo2-CPO-27/PCN, is derived from a carbon nanorod structure obtained from the metal-organic framework (CPO-27). Through the optimized process, the catalyst demonstrates the distinct carbon nanorod configuration. Additionally, the NiCo2-CPO-27/PCN catalyst exhibits enhanced ORR activity, achieving the electron transfer number of 3.99, which closely approaches the ideal four-electron transfer number. This improvement in activity is attributed to factors such as the specific structure, heteroatom contribution, and coordination arrangement of the catalyst.

Development of low-cost nafion-lignin composite conductive membranes for application in direct methanol fuel cells

The advantages of the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) are its high energy density, simple size with a compact fuel tank and effortless storage and transportation, making it one of the leading fuel cell types. However, the commercialisation of this technology is hampered by a number of issues, including methanol crossover and the high cost of Nafion membranes. In this study, an environmentally friendly composite membrane Nafion-lignosulfonate (LS) with merits of high proton conductivity and low methanol permeability was prepared by simple solution casting. An Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) approach was used to determine the proton conductivity of the composite membranes at room temperature. A composite membrane with 10 wt% filler (rN/LS10) is found to show the best selectivity of 1.10 × 104 S s cm−3. In addition, this composite membrane shows a proton conductivity of 0.92 mS cm−1 and a permeability to methanol of 8.34 × 10−8 cm2 s−1. A single-cell performance test confirms that rN/LS10 shows a power density of 11.7 mW/cm2, which is a 20.9% improvement over commercial N117 at room temperature. Compared to N117, rN/LS10 shows acceptable durability for a fuel cell operated at 0.3 V for 24 h with a decay rate of 0.51 mA cm−2.h−1. More importantly, by reducing the amount of Nafion polymer used, the cost of the rN/LS composite membrane can be reduced by 8.02% compared to commercially N117 while maintaining stability and performance. On the road to commercialisation, the Nafion-lignosulfonate composite membrane is, therefore, a competitive choice for DMFCs.

Molten Borates Fuel Cells — Mathematical modeling and identification of performances

The research presents an overview of the possibilities of using boron-containing compounds as electrolytes for fuel cells. The main assumption here is to develop a molten carbonate fuel cell type power source, where the molten electrolyte is kept by a ceramic matrix between the electrodes. In the cases which are described in this study, attempts were made to develop electrolytes based on borates. Whereas the reported studies contain very little information on this subject, it was possible to identify several promising compounds and to extrapolate their performance to higher temperatures. Reported data on the temperature at eutectic points suggest that the operating range of such electrolytes is at a level like the molten carbonate fuel cell. The study presents a proposal for a mathematical model of a new type of fuel cell based on molten borates. The mathematical model is based on the reduced order model, supplemented with the influence of the ceramic matrix on the resulting ionic conductivity of the electrolyte layer. The model was used to determine potential performances for a few selected borates and a sensitivity analysis of selected geometric parameters was performed for the best of them. The results obtained were compared against the standard molten carbonate fuel cell.

Fuel cell type SO2 sensor based on Cu/CF-N sensing electrode and Nafion proton conductor at room temperature

In this work, nitrogen doped carbon fiber loaded copper (Cu/CF-N) sensing electrode and Nafion proton conductor are used to fabricate fuel cell type gas sensors that realize fast response/recovery for SO2 detection at room temperature. This is the first time that this type of sensor has been used to detect SO2. We investigated the effect of Cu content on sensors’ performance, and found that the Cu (20 wt%)/CF based sensor exhibited the highest response. This can be attributed to the optimal Cu content, which exposes the most active sites. Moreover, nitrogen was doped into electrode material to further improve the performance. Nitrogen atoms enhance the conductivity of the material and its ability to adsorb SO2. These are confirmed by the complex impedance measurement and TPD analysis. The upgraded Cu/CF-N fuel cell type gas sensor showed a response of − 435.6 nA to 50 ppm SO2 and a low detection limit of 500 ppb. Significantly, the Cu/CF-N sensor demonstrated short response time (44 s) and recovery time (87 s) at room temperature. Furthermore, with the advantages of no power consumption, excellent selectivity and good repeatability, the fuel cell type gas sensors have broad prospects in the field of room temperature gas detection.

Expanding the range of trackable environmental pollutants for Nafion based fuel cell type gas sensor

Expanding the application field of fuel cell type gas sensors is of great significance for achieving high sensitivity, real-time gas detection at room temperature. Here, we developed a fuel cell type NO2 gas sensor based on MoS2 nanosheet/Carbon fiber (CF) sensing electrode and Nafion proton conductor, enabling the fuel cell type sensor to detect NO2 for the first time. The effect of MoS2 loadings(10, 20, 40, 60 and 80 mg) on the sensors’ performance and the sensitizing mechanism are investigated, the sensor containing 40 mg MoS2 exhibits the best performance, which can be attributed to the large number of active sites and efficient carrier transport properties of the corresponding electrode materials. At room temperature, the optimal sensor demonstrates a sensitivity of 45.6 nA/ppm to 1–50 ppm NO2 and an ultra-low detection limit of 28.8 ppb, both the response and recovery time are less than 60 s. This work not only develops a highly sensitive, reversible and fast response NO2 gas sensor, but also provides insights into sensing electrochemistry, material selection and catalyst/support materials, offering guidelines for future fuel cell type gas sensors to monitor a wider range of environmental pollutants.

Sustainability-Oriented Assessment of Fuel Cells—A Literature Review

Enhancing the sustainability of activities is an undebatable need for decision makers regarding the economy as well as society. Fuel cells and their application in different areas, such as energy supply or mobility, are viewed as a promising means towards more sustainability. However, fuel cells as well as fuel-cell-based application systems cause a couple of possibly conflictive impacts in terms of ecological, economic, and social targets—their positive contribution to sustainability is not confident. Consequently, a significant assessment of sustainability is needed to enable a targeted development of fuel cells and their application systems, including the selection of alternative design variants. Furthermore, such assessment is necessary to provide evidence for the intended improvements and thereby contribute to market success and implementation of the systems. However, an overview of the existing methods for sustainability-related assessment of fuel cells and fuel-cell-based systems as well as the outcomes of the assessments does not exist. Therefore, a systematic literature review is conducted without restriction of fuel cell types and evaluation methods. Such a comprehensive overview does not yet exist to the best of the authors’ knowledge. With regard to the suggested or applied methods, the results show, amongst others, that the economic assessment does not refer to the methodical state-of-art, the social dimension is neglected, and an overall assessment of sustainability, aggregating all three dimensions, is not conducted. Due to the variety of analyzed objects as well as applied methods, the outcomes of the studies provide not more than scattered knowledge about the relevance of components and the advantageousness of fuel cells, their variants, and their application systems regarding sustainability. To contribute to avoiding methodological deficiencies, a procedure model for an integrated assessment is presented.

Analysis of electricity generation with combined power systems for residential buildings

Today, energy needs are increasing rapidly. Since our country imports a large part of its energy resources, it is extremely important to use energy efficiently and protect the environment in order to leave a livable world to future generations. One of the losses in energy transmission is transmission loss. In order to prevent this loss all over the world, "distributed energy production" method should be encouraged. Through combined heat and power systems, we can generate heat and electricity and save energy. Cogeneration systems can generally pay for themselves within 1.5-4 years. The aim of this study is to contribute to science with a broad literature review including the design of combined power systems and the technical and economic evaluation of their most efficient applications. The systems in the literature are investigated and comparisons are made. Hydrogen fuel cell types for domestic applications are detailed and hydrogen is considered to be a logical choice. The effects of design and performance parameters are analysed. This combined power system does not harm the nature; it utilises natural resources such as wind, sun and hydrogen, which can also be obtained by electrolysis of water.

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells for Aviation

Airbus has revealed ZEROe, three concepts for the world’s first zero-emission commercial aircraft which could be brought to market by 2035. The ZEROe concept aircrafts, which support Airbus’ commitment to lead the decarbonisation of the aviation industry, all rely on hydrogen as a primary power source, which would be deployed via a hybrid-hydrogen configuration featuring modified gas-turbine engines complemented by fuel cells for electrical power. Although the Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) technology is one of the most matured fuel cell types, Airbus Central Research and Technology (CRT) is also investigating novel SOFC concepts for potential hybrid-hydrogen configurations.The Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) offers major benefits, namely electrical efficiency and fuel versatility, for hybrid-electric aircraft propulsion. Although the SOFC’s area specific power density has drastically increased within the last decade, more needs to be done to make the technology accessible for aviation applications. The combined development of novel SOFC concepts and corresponding manufacturing processes are regarded as key objectives for the SOFC activities at Airbus Central Research and Technology. Airbus is designing, manufacturing and testing SOFC concepts with the aim to achieve highest gravimetric power densities.Novel manufacturing technologies for metallic and ceramic materials have the potential to enable lighter functional layers for SOFCs with increased intrinsic mechanical stability and surface area. Different cell concepts with an optimized current collection are currently under development at Airbus. The micro-tubular and monolithic SOFC are seen as the most promising concepts, whereas around 2 kW/kg on a cell level has recently been achieved in a performance test at Airbus.

A Study on the Viability of Fuel Cells as an Alternative to Diesel Fuel Generators on Ships

This study investigates methods for reducing air pollution in the shipping sector, particularly in port areas. The study examines the use of fuel cells as an alternative to diesel generators. Environmental pollution at ports remains a critical issue, so using fuel cells as an alternative to conventional energy systems warrants further research. This study compares commercial fuel cell types that can be used on a case study very large crude carrier (VLCC) vessel specifically, although the technology is applicable to other vessels and requirements. Seven different fuel cell types were ranked based on five criteria to accomplish this. The proton-exchange membrane cell type was found to be the most suitable fuel cell type for the case study vessel. Based on the input fuel, ammonia-based hydrogen storage has been identified as the most promising option, along with using an ammonia reforming unit to produce pure hydrogen. Furthermore, this study provides an integrated fuel cell module and highlights the economic, environmental, and maintenance aspects of implementing the proton-exchange membrane fuel cell module for this case study. It also calculates the required space as a crucial constraint of implementing fuel cell technology at sea.

The Study of Plant Microbial Fuel Cell for Alternative Energy Source

Plant Microbial Fuel Cell (P-MFC) is one of Microbial Fuel Cell type. It can produce electricity and source for plant living. By using the humus soil in the anode chamber, the electron can flow to the cathode chamber. The principle of Plant Microbial Fuel Cell is same with the battery. It flows the direct current. This research makes dual chamber of P-MFC prototype. The salt bridge is used as connection between anode chamber to cathode chamber. The humus soil comes from burning organic waste. Its color is black and contains a lot of microbes. The plant selected in this research was Water Spinach. The number of water spinach were 20 and 25 stems. P-MFC which has more Water Spinach will produce more voltage and current than the others. For 25 Water Spinach, P-MFC produced 762.4 mV no-load average voltage and 125.8 mV, 085 mA for load condition. The result was bigger caused by for more plants will be more microbes resulted in the humus soil.

Model of a Hybrid Electric Vehicle Equipped with Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Powered by Biomethane

To promote the development of new technologies that allow an intensive use of renewable green energies and to overcome the problem of the lack of range of full electric vehicles, an interesting energy source is biomethane. The Fuel Cells (FCs) systems benefit from high efficiency and zero emissions, and they are generally powered by hydrogen. One of the main problems related to hydrogen FCs is the current weak network of infrastructure’s need to supply the hydrogen itself. An alternative may be the development of FC vehicles powered by methane, or biomethane, to exploit a renewable energy source. The type of Fuel Cells that lends itself to a methane (or biomethane) power supply is the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC). Considering the limitations of the SOFCs, a vehicle model powered by Fuel Cells fueled by methane (or biomethane) is created. This work concerns the creation of a vehicle model, and the sizing of the SOFC system (generator delivering a constant 3 kW) and battery pack (30 Ah), for a door-to-door waste collection vehicle, whose mission is known. The latter is a fundamental requirement due to the limitations found for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells: slow transient and long ignition times.

A novel aging prediction method of fuel cell based on empirical mode decomposition and complexity threshold quantitative criterion

Data-driven methods have been widely applied to fault diagnosis and aging predictions to assist fuel cell Prognostic and Health Management (PHM) system, in order to achieve early maintenance management and corrective measures for fuel cell systems. This paper proposes a novel fuel cell aging prediction method considering the applicability of data and algorithm. This method first adopts empirical mode decomposition (EMD) to split the aging data into several intrinsic mode functions (IMFs), and each IMF represents a different characteristic. Then the sample entropy (SE) is used as the quantitative criterion for complexity threshold. Furthermore, the nonlinear autoregressive neural network (NARNN) and the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) recurrent neural network are combined to ensure the applicability of data and algorithm. The results show that EMD can split the various data types of the aging data and weaken or even eliminate the excessive mutation phenomenon that occurs at the beginning of each experimental fuel cell. In addition, the targeted selection of data-driven methods can ensure the applicability of the data and algorithm. Finally, by comparing different prediction methods, the proposed method shows higher accuracy in the prediction of each experimental dataset, and good generality for different fuel cell types.

Design and Modeling of Hybrid Electric Vehicle Powered by Solar and Fuel Cell Energy with Quadratic Buck/Boost Converter

Considering technological advancements and international standards mandating reduced greenhouse gas emissions, automobile manufacturers have shifted their focus toward innovative technologies related to fuel-cell electric vehicles. Despite having an all-electric powertrain, fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) utilize a fuel cell stack as their energy source, which runs on hydrogen and results in the emission of only water and heat. Due to the absence of tailpipe pollutants, fuel-cell electric vehicles are considered zero-emission vehicles. Among fuel cell types, low-temperature and low-pressure fuel cells, such as Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs), are well-suited for vehicular applications as they exhibit high power density, operate at lower temperatures (60-80°C), and are less prone to corrosion than other types of fuel cells. The main objective of this paper is to investigate solar-assisted electric fuel cell vehicles that efficiently integrate the fuel cell system with an electrolyzer and solar power to fulfill the fluctuating power demands of the electric motor and auxiliary systems. A novel EV configuration with a fuel cell, electrolyzer and onboard PV cell is proposed. An onboard PV cell can assist the fuel cell when the irradiation is enough to generate the power. During the idle conditions of vehicles, PV-generated power can be converted into chemical energy using an electrolyzer and generated hydrogen can be stored in a hydrogen tank. To match the voltage required by the motor and sources a quadratic bidirectional buck-boost converter is employed. The proposed configuration is examined by considering variable irradiance and variable speed values. To obtain the maximum power output from the photovoltaic (PV) panel, a Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithm is employed to regulate the PV system. To enhance the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of PV systems, an enhanced version of the incremental conductance algorithm is utilized as the MPPT control strategy. Outer voltage and inner current control are adopted to regulate the DC output voltage of the QBBC converter. An indirect vector-controlled induction motor is used as vehicle drive. Simulations are performed to investigate the proposed EV configuration in MATLAB/SIMULINK.

Ammonia Tolerance of Atomically Dispersed Single Metal Site Catalysts: Mechanistic Understanding and High‐Performance Oxygen Reduction Electrocatalysis

AbstractThe anion‐exchange membrane direct ammonia fuel cell, as a carbon‐free fuel cell type, has recently received increasing attention albeit suffering from high cost of using the platinum‐group metal oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts. To pave the development of this promising power source, the atomically dispersed transition metal‐nitrogen‐carbon (M‐N‐C) materials with low cost and high ORR performance have allured to investigate their ammonia tolerance during the ORR. Herein, it is initially deconvoluted how compositional and structural elements of FeN4 sites modulate catalyst's performance. Furthermore, ORR catalytic activities of the M‐N‐C (M = Fe, Co or Mn) and Pt/C catalysts are investigated in ammonia‐containing electrolytes, showing that M‐N‐C catalysts have better ammonia tolerance than Pt/C. Among others, the Fe‐N‐C exhibits the best ammonia tolerance with only 4 mV negative shifts of half‐wave potential, 2.7% decrease of current, and negligibly irreversible activity loss. The superior ammonia tolerance of MN4 sites to Pt (111) surface is further confirmed by density functional theory calculations. The adsorption capacity of MN4 for O2 is higher than NH3 and the bonding force between MN4 and O2 is stronger than NH3, whereas opposite adsorption capacity and bonding force trends are observed on Pt (111) surface.

PdxNiy/TiO2 Electrocatalysts for Converting Methane to Methanol in An Electrolytic Polymeric Reactor—Fuel Cell Type (PER-FC)

PdxNiy/TiO2 bimetallic electrocatalysts were used in fuel cell polymeric electrolyte reactors (PER-FC) to convert methane into methanol through the partial oxidation of methane promoted by the activation of water at room temperature. X-ray diffraction measurements showed the presence of Pd and Ni phases and TiO2 anatase phase. TEM images revealed mean particle sizes larger than those reported for PdNi materials supported, indicating that TiO2 promotes particle aggregation on its surface. Information on the surface structure of electrocatalysts obtained by Raman spectra indicated the presence or formation of NiO. The PER-FC tests showed the highest power density for the electrocatalyst with the lowest amount of nickel Pd80Ni20/TiO2 (0.58 mW cm−2). The quantification of methanol through the eluents collected from the reactor showed higher concentrations of methanol produced, revealing that the use of TiO2 as a support also increased the reaction rate.

Combined cold, heat and power (CCHP) systems and fuel cells for CCHP applications: a topological review

Abstract As the basis for the study, this manuscript was written at a time when the energy crisis is affecting most parts of the world and most especially the prevailing and rampant electricity crisis in most developing countries. As a result, 50 combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) systems studies were reviewed, which included the internal combustion engine (ICE), Stirling engine, biomass, micro turbine, solar and biogas, photovoltaic (PV) and gas turbine, wind turbine, PV and micro-turbine, solid-oxide and phosphoric-acid fuel cells (FCs), ICE and thermoelectric generator, low-temperature (LT) polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM), inlet air throttling gas turbine, ground source heat pump (GSHP) micro gas turbine and PV, ICE and GSHP, ICE with dehumidification and refrigeration, 5-kW PEM FC, thermoelectric cooler and LT-PEM FC, Stirling engine and molten carbonate FC, thermo-acoustic organic Rankine cycle, solar-thermal, geothermal, integrated energy systems, power- and heat-storage systems, energy-conversion systems, thermodynamic and thermo-economic optimization strategies, working fluids based on hydrogen, helium as well as ammonia, H2O, CO2 etc. Of these reviewed CCHP systems, FC-based CCHP systems were of the greatest interest, particularly the PEM FC. Consequently, FCs were further investigated, whereby the seven popular types of FCs identified and classified were summarily compared with each other, from which the PEM FC was preferred due to its practical popularity. However, PEM FCs, like all FCs, are susceptible to the fuel-starvation phenomenon; therefore, six FC-assisted schemes were examined, from which the FC assisted with the supercapacitor and battery technique was the most widely applied. In sum, the significance of the study entails assorted CCHP systems, FCs, their highlights, their applications and their pros and cons in a single reference document that anyone can easily use to holistically understand the characteristics of the CCHP systems. The study concludes with our perspective, by which we formulate and propose an alternative innovative unique CCHP system model under research, which is based exclusively on green technologies: FCs, lithium-ion battery, ultracapacitor, thermoelectricity and an energy-management system using MATLAB®.

A Critical Review of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Systems for Automotive Applications: Components, Materials, and Comparative Assessment

The development of innovative technologies based on employing green energy carriers, such as hydrogen, is becoming high in demand, especially in the automotive sector, as a result of the challenges associated with sustainable mobility. In the present review, a detailed overview of the entire hydrogen supply chain is proposed, spanning from its production to storage and final use in cars. Notably, the main focus is on Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) as the fuel-cell type most typically used in fuel cell electric vehicles. The analysis also includes a cost assessment of the various systems involved; specifically, the materials commonly employed to manufacture fuel cells, stacks, and hydrogen storage systems are considered, emphasizing the strengths and weaknesses of the selected strategies, together with assessing the solutions to current problems. Moreover, as a sought-after parallelism, a comparison is also proposed and discussed between traditional diesel or gasoline cars, battery-powered electric cars, and fuel cell electric cars, thus highlighting the advantages and main drawbacks of the propulsion systems currently available on the market.