COMPOSITE REINFORCEMENT OF IONOMER MEMBRANES

摘要

Modern society depends on electricity. The vast majority of that electricity is derived from chemical or nuclear energy that is converted first to thermal energy, then to mechanical energy, and finally to electrical energy. The electrical energy is then transmitted over long distances, at high voltages, and then converted to lower voltages before conversion back to mechanical energy, thermal energy, light, etc. Generation facilities require large investments of capital and each step in the process extracts a penalty of wasted energy. The practical conversion of chemical energy directly to electrical energy has been a "Holy Grail" since the first demonstration of the hydrogen/oxygen fuel cell by Sir Walter Grove in 1839. The first fuel cell was a simple affair of platinum wire electrodes in contact with an acid electrolyte solution, with hydrogen at the anode and oxygen at the cathode. The electricity produced was used to drive an electrolysis cell, demonstrating the reversibility of the process.