Hydrogen fuel cells produce electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The hydrogen reacts with oxygen across an electrochemical cell similar to that of a battery to produce electricity, water, and small amounts of heat. Many different types of fuel cells are available for a wide range of applications.

In a fuel cell, hydrogen and oxygen are combined to generate electricity, heat, and water. A typical fuel cell works by passing hydrogen through the anode of a fuel cell and oxygen through the cathode. At the anode site, a catalyst splits the hydrogen molecules into electrons and protons.

The fuel that is used. The most common fuel is hydrogen. The anode catalyst, usually fine platinum powder, breaks down the fuel into electrons and ions. The cathode catalyst, often nickel, converts ions into waste chemicals, with water being the most common type of waste.

Oxygen supplied to the cathode reacts with these hydrogen ions and electrons arriving via the external circuit to produce water and heat, both of which are removed from the fuel cell.

In order for a fuel cell to work, it needs an oxidizing agent. Scientists have now found a way to explain why oxygen does not always enter fuel cells effectively, rendering them unusable. Fuel cells use a simple chemical reaction, such as the combination of oxygen and hydrogen to form water, to generate electricity.

pale blue

We can’t live without oxygen. But too much can harm us. To burn our food, we need oxygen, which we get from breathing in the air around us. Oxygen isn’t the only gas in the air.

Oxygen toxicity is lung damage that happens from breathing in too much extra (supplemental) oxygen. It’s also called oxygen poisoning. It can cause coughing and trouble breathing. In severe cases it can even cause death.

To breathe pure oxygen at that level for any longer can have toxic results, including “shock lung,” or adult respiratory distress syndrome. In infants, too much pure oxygen for too long a time can also lead to retinal problems as the blood vessels in their eyes won’t develop properly.

Like other things in life, breathing isn’t that simple. What we breathe in is far from pure oxygen, but roughly by volume 78 per cent nitrogen, 21 per cent oxygen, 0.965 per cent argon and 0.04 per cent carbon dioxide (plus some helium, water and other gases).

Oxygen occurs mainly as an element in the atmosphere. It makes up 20.948 percent of the atmosphere. It also occurs in oceans, lakes, rivers, and ice caps in the form of water. Nearly 89 percent of the weight of water is oxygen.

Occurrence of oxygen in nature Oxygen is the most abundant of all elements found in nature. It occurs both as a gas and also as part of a large number of compounds. Oxygen gas is found mainly in the atmosphere, which contains approximately 21% oxygen by volume, along with 78% nitrogen and small amounts of other gases.

Joseph Priestley

Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier