Building Fuel Cells from Kits?

ItsMr.Data asks: "I am looking for a model fuel cell. After checking many web sites, and this one seems to have the best selection. I am wondering if, due to the high cost of the kits, any Slashdot readers have ever built their own fuel cells. I would also like to know if any readers have found any good resellers of kits and supplies."

It just so happens

[ColaMan]

That I've got a catalogue today with a fuel cell kit [jaycar.com.au].

It's from an australian company, and it costs AUD299 so it's probably not much help - but it does look like some sort of generic kit. No specs on the cell though :-(

Here's another...

[mOoZik]

I've been meaning to get one for myself, but haven't yet found the time.

Fuel Cell Kit [outpost.com]

Re:It just so happens

[gmhowell]

Yikes! [outpost.com] This product looks identical. Even figuring for the exchange rate, you guys are getting ripped. I could buy them in the US at retail and still sell for less than AUD299. Interested in importing some? :)

(thanks to a later poster who provided the US link.)

Not just a toy; this is the the real product.

[bobv-pillars-net]

Most of the posters here are providing links to "toy" fuel cells, suitable for lab experiments and small robotic toys but vastly underpowered for real-world applications. So I searched a bit further and found the real thing.

Product brochure (PDF format) is here [fuelcellmarkets.com].

Click here [fuelcellmarkets.com] for a search interface to various fuel-cell products and technologies.

Re:platinum catalysts

[pla]

Do you have proof of this? It sounds like complete bunk to me.

Wise default opinion... Even ignoring the economics of the situation (how do they sell a vehicle containing $100k worth of platinum for FAR under $100k?), such an assertion also ignores the requirements of such a fuel cell as well.

First of all, most "platinum" catalysts actually use palladium, still not cheap but a tenth the cost of actual platinum. Second, surface area means everything. The most common way of maximizing surface area of a catalyst involves using it as a componant of the surface of a ceramic material (such as in catalytic converters, which on average use less than a quarter of milligram of palladium). On a similar catalyst-density to a catalytic converter, even using real platinum rather than palladium, you would need a ceramic cube over 250 feet on a side to use up $100,000 worth of platinum).

Finally, even if this particular use required (for some strange reason) non-powdered metal, presenting a solid metalic surface - Making it into a foil bonded to some less expensive metal (copper, for instance) would give you (at least) 125 square feet of surface area. A thick electroplating could beat that by an order of magnitude.

So no, you should not believe it, without some totally irrefutable proof.

Re:platinum catalysts

[oldsaint]

The General Motors concept fuel cell car, also about 75 kW, uses 75 grams of platinum. That is a current ballpark standard, one gram of platinum per kW of power. At current market prices, 75 grams of platinum sells for about $2000. If you want to recover that value from a fuel cell, you have to first remove it from the fuel cell's anode and cathode, and then refine it to market purity. If one fuel cell with 75 grams is all you have, someone in the reclaim industry will buy the fuel cell from you for less than one hundred dollars. So do not buy the car thinking that you will make a killing in the precious metals market.