| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 174589 | Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering | 2012 | 8 Pages |
Fuel cells convert chemically stored energy directly into electrical energy at high thermodynamic efficiencies. But, despite significant progress in research and development during the last two decades, further improvement of performance and reduction of costs are required in order to translate fuel cell technologies into commercial products. The present mini-review sheds some light on four particular fields of fuel cell research where chemical reaction engineers can bring in their expertise: (1) understanding the nonlinear dynamic behavior of fuel cells as electrochemical reactors, (2) development of new concepts for efficient mass and heat integration of fuel cell systems, (3) use of biomass as renewable primary energy source for feeding fuel cells, (4) use of enzymes for catalyzing the electrode reactions in fuel cells.
► Bistability, oscillations and pattern formation has been found in fuel cells. ► Novel heat and mass integration concepts of high-temperature fuel cells are proposed. ► Hydrogen can be produced from syngas via cyclic water gas shift reaction. ► Enzymes are attractive unconventional electrode catalysts for fuel cells.
