 My name is Martin Schmidt. I am a physicist and was
head of marketing and sales with a company that develops, manufactures and sells fuel cell
systems. Of course I was often asked how fuel cells actually work. I like to answer such
questions with a simple experiment, but it irritated me that commercially available kits
are expensive and uninstructive. |
| While studying historical
reports I had the idea of reproducing the experiments of fuel cell pioneers with very
simple apparatus in order to understand better the principle of fuel cells. It worked
immediately. And it was most instructive. One can easily understand the fuel cell
principle (or gas battery, as the pioneers called it) as reverse electrolysis. I made the
experiments at home with ingredients that could be found in the household or in a
supermarket. The only components that were not readily available were the two platinum
electrodes (finally I managed to get simple wires from a company lab). |
| The main purpose is to share my
joy of experimenting and explaining. I consider that everybody who is interested in fuel
cells should be able to understand how they work. Because of numerous inquiries how to
obtain the platinum wires I decided to offer the service to order them on this website.
See this as a favour (it took a lot of extra effort to program it) and an opportunity
(e.g. if you look for a very special gift, or you are preparing a
science project) - but not as an obligation. Please feel free to enjoy without buying
anything! Continue to get a
better idea and see how it works. |
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