It reacts with oxygen from the air in such a way that electrical power is generated. The byproducts are heat and water. The practical generation and storage of hydrogen, however, is a technological hurdle to the mass production of cheap, efficient and clean energy. We eliminated the need to reform hydrocarbon fuels into hydrogen. Previous attempts to run a solid-oxide fuel cell on hydrocarbon fuels failed because the electrochemical process that generates electricity caused a buildup of carbon, which ruined the cell.
Hydrocarbon fuel reacts with oxygen from the air in such a way that electrical power is generated.
The materials in the University of Pennsylvania fuel cell are not fouled by a buildup of carbon. That material lasted four days without any signs of fouling, and Gorte thinks it should remain stable for a much longer period of time. Scientists hold that energy extraction from fuels by means of electrochemical processes is cleaner and more efficient than combustion engines that currently dominate the energy market. The goal of the institute is to generate electrical power in every home through sources such as fuel cells. Two articles on this fuel cell research appear in the March 16 issue of the journal Nature .