I recently saw Canadian Pacific Railway is building a prototype hydrogen fuel cell powered locomotive. I understand how electrolysis separates oxygen from hydrogen molecules, but how do actual fuel cells work?
In: Technology
Basically, it burns hydrogen and oxygen (which creates water), but it does so through a special membrane that will allow hydrogen’s nucleus (a single proton and maybe some neutrons) to pass through, but not the hydrogen’s electron. This creates a charge imbalance, which is released through a connected wire, creating a current. That current is captured and used as power.
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