| Abstract | The history of fuel cells begins 170 years ago, when Sir William Grove invented the first fuel cell in 1839 [1, 2]. In the first step of his experiment, Grove embedded two platinum electrodes inside two separate glass tubes and then placed these in a dilute sulphuric acid solution, as shown in the left part of Figure 1.1. He then passed an electric current through the electrodes, causing the electrolysis of water. The resulting oxygen and hydrogen were accumulated in the two glass tubes. In the second step, the power supply was replaced with an ammeter, which detected a small electric current arising from the reduction of oxygen and the oxidation of hydrogen on the individual Pt electrodes. |
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