Research Progress of Various Types of Fuel Cells

Fuel cells become as a clean and sustainable form of energy and are considered as one of the key technologies of renewable energy. Fuel cells conduct as one of the emerging batteries, converting chemical energy into electrical energy electrochemically and catalytically. During the operation, they do not generate pollutants and exhaust gas. This has played an important role in energy security and environmental protection. The essay has reviewed the research progress of various types of fuel cells through literature review and emphatically introduced proton exchange membrane fuel cell, direct methanol fuel cell and solid oxide fuel cell in terms of their work principles, technical features, strengths and weaknesses and application status. The research has found that proton exchange fuel cells are dominating due to the high energy conversion efficiency and stability. But the commercialization of the fuel cells is still not mature and the operating costs are relatively high, which should be solved in the future. Direct methanol fuel cells and solid oxide fuel cells are also advantageous on the efficiency and structure performance. However, there are some issue and challenges faced by them, such as operating temperature, marketization, cost, etc. Besides, the essay has discussed about the current and prospective development situation.