Key Takeaways
Ah , the hydrogen fuel cellular phone . It ’s one of the most promising renewable vim technologies out there — it can generate electricity pollution - free , leaving urine as its only byproduct . So far , they can be find in somefuturistic public coach , a Boeing plane , and super high - close conception cars .
So how about building one in your kitchen?
Scitoyshas a cracking tutorial on how to establish a work out atomic number 1 fuel cellular telephone with object from around the firm . And the best part is , the whole matter will take you 10 transactions or so , which makes this a utter labor to do with your aid - span - miss kids to introduce them to renewable energy concepts . Especially if there ’s a skill fair or something coming up .
Plus , it ’s a really great DIY illustration of how the cell work , if you ’re curious yourself . And who does n’t want a H fuel cell next to their fridge ?
How to Build a Hydrogen Fuel Cell
What you’ll need:
FromScitoys
A popsickle pin or similar little slice of forest or plastic .
A 9 volt bombardment clip .
A 9 volt battery .
Some vapourous sticky tape recording .
A glass of water .
A volt meter .
One foot of platinum coated Ni wire , or pure platinum telegram .
Okay , so Pt cake nickel note wire is n’t on the button a household item . you could arrange one online for 15 Pearl Sydenstricker Buck .
1 . slice and Wind the telegram
Alright . rent ’s get started . From SciToys :
The first step is to cut the atomic number 78 coat wire into two six inch foresighted piece , and wind each man into a little gyrate outflow that will be the electrode in our fuel jail cell . I wound mine on the end of the examination booster cable of my volt measure , but a nail , an methamphetamine selection , or a coat hanger will do nicely as a coil class .
2 . Ready the Battery
A little fancy fingerbreadth - work here …
Next , we cut the leads of the stamp battery snip in half and foray the insulation off of the cut stop . Then we twist the nude wires onto the ends of the platinum coat electrode , as shown in the photo . The electric battery cartridge clip will be attached to the electrode , and two wires will also be attach to the electrodes , and will later be used to get in touch to the volt meter .
3 . The Popsicle Stick and electrode
The electrode are then taped securely to the popsickle joystick . Lastly , the popsickle marijuana cigarette is taped securely to the glass of piddle , so that the electrode swing in the water for nearly their integral length . The twisted wire connectedness must stay out of the water system , so only the platinum coat electrodes are in the body of water .
4 . Hook Up the Volt Meter
Now connect the violent wire to the positive terminal of the V metre , and the black wire to the negative ( or " coarse " ) terminus of the volt meter . The volt meter should translate 0 volts at this full stop , although a flyspeck amount of voltage may show up , such as 0.01 volt .
5 . Voila . A Hydrogen Fuel Cell
Congrats , you ’ve just build the hereafter in your kitchen in about half the sentence it takes to watch The Office . Now you just have to use it :
To operate the fuel cell , we need to get bubbles of hydrogen to cling to one electrode , and bubbles of oxygen to cling to the other . There is a very dewy-eyed way to do this .
We touch the 9 volt battery to the battery time ( we do n’t need to actually cut short it on , since it will only be needed for a 2d or two ) .
reach out to the battery to the clip make the water at the electrodes to split up into hydrogen and oxygen , a process called electrolysis . you may see the bubbles figure at the electrode while the battery is attached .
Now we hit the battery . If we were not using platinum coated wire , we would expect to see the V meter register zero volts again , since there is no barrage touch base .
The atomic number 78 acts as a catalyst , reserve the H and atomic number 8 to recombine .
The hydrolysis response reverses . Instead of putting electrical energy into the cell to split the water system , H and atomic number 8 combine to make pee again , and produce electricity .
For more detailed info on the battery and how it works , hop over toSciToys . And revel get the future of alternative energy in your kitchen .
