Physik Department E 19 Technische Universität München James-Franck-Strasse 1 85748 Garching, Germany.
Chemphyschem. 2000 Dec 15;1(4):162-93. doi: 10.1002/1439-7641(20001215)1:4<162::AID-CPHC162>3.0.CO;2-Z.
During the last decade, fuel cells have received enormous attention from research institutions and companies as novel electrical energy conversion systems. In the near future, they will see application in automotive propulsion, distributed power generation, and in low power portable devices (battery replacement). This review gives an introduction into the fundamentals and applications of fuel cells: Firstly, the environmental and social factors promoting fuel cell development are discussed, with an emphasis on the advantages of fuel cells compared to the conventional techniques. Then, the main reactions, which are responsible for the conversion of chemical into electrical energy in fuel cells, are given and the thermodynamic and kinetic fundamentals are stated. The theoretical and real efficiencies of fuel cells are also compared to that of internal combustion engines. Next, the different types of fuel cells and their main components are explained and the related material issues are presented. A section is devoted to fuel generation and storage, which is of paramount importance for the practical aspects of fuel cell use. Finally, attention is given to the integration of the fuel cells into complete systems.
在过去的十年中，燃料电池作为新型电能转换系统，受到了研究机构和公司的极大关注。在不久的将来，它们将应用于汽车推进、分布式发电以及低功率便携式设备（电池替代）。本文综述了燃料电池的基本原理和应用：首先，讨论了促进燃料电池发展的环境和社会因素，并强调了燃料电池相对于传统技术的优势。然后，给出了在燃料电池中负责将化学能转化为电能的主要反应，并阐述了热力学和动力学基础。还将燃料电池的理论和实际效率与内燃机进行了比较。接下来，解释了不同类型的燃料电池及其主要组件，并介绍了相关的材料问题。有一节专门讨论了燃料的产生和储存，这对于燃料电池实际应用至关重要。最后，关注了燃料电池集成到完整系统中的问题。
