Fuel Cell Technology

• Is based on the tendency of some elements to gain electrons and other elements to lose them.
• The most common type of fuel cell—the hydrogen–oxygen fuel cell—is based on the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen.
• In this reaction, hydrogen and oxygen form covalent bonds with one another. A single covalent bond is a shared electron pair.
• Since oxygen is more electronegative than hydrogen, the electron pair in a hydrogen–oxygen bond is unequally shared, with oxygen getting the larger portion.
• In effect, oxygen has more electrons in H2O than in elemental O2—it has gained electrons in the reaction.