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        • The Effect of Prozac on the Brain
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        • Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Turbines
        • Your Own Worst Enemy: An Overview of Lupus
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        • Communicating With Computers
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        • The Nanoscopic War Against Cancer
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        • A Pain That Never Ends
        • Rapamycin Resistance
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        • Morphological Properties of Texting Acronym Formation
        • cGAS and STING Expression
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        • Earthly Applications for NASA Technology
        • Explaining Relative Motion
        • Exploring Artificial Inteligence
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        • How Leaves Work
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      • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations >
        • Astrocytes Expressing ALS-Linked Mutated SOD1 Release Factors Selectively Toxic to Motor Neurons
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    • 2013 Publication

CREATING ENERGY IN THE MODERN WORLD

Editors Note: This article by Cecilia M. (’16) is an exploration of energy in the modern world. This includes the different tools that we use to get energy, how those tools work, and how we can implement them into our modern society with the different practical limitations that there are.
           In Jack Hitt’s article The Artificial Leaf is Here. Again., he discusses the Harvard professor Daniel Nocera’s new method to generate energy. Professor Daniel Nocera’s method imitates a plant’s process of photosynthesis. His artificial leaf takes in sunlight and turns this into energy, specifically usable hydrogen and oxygen. His goal is to make everyone’s home their “own power station” (Hitt, 2014). Professor Nocera is determined to spread the use of his invention because often, beneficial inventions never end up being used. Why? One of the biggest factors, which will affect the artificial leaf’s sales, according to Jack Hitt, is “getting consumers accustomed to what’s needed for it to work, such as fuel cells- which convert hydrogen into usable electricity” (Hitt). Convincing the public is extremely important for the sales of this invention. A big question, which would impact the artificial leaf’s acceptance as a new energy system, is what is a fuel cell? How does a fuel cell convert hydrogen into usable electricity?

           There are many types of fuel cells, but they all function similarly (“Fuel Cell Basics”, 2008). A fuel cell generates electricity from a chemical reaction, like a battery, by converting an external supply of potential energy, hydrogen and oxygen, into electrical energy (“Fuel Cell Technologies”, 2014). The chemical reactions that produce energy in a fuel cell happen at the electrodes. Every fuel cell has two electrodes, a positive anode and a negative cathode. Electrically charged particles, or energy, travel from one electrode to the other by an electrolyte. The “fuel” for a fuel cell is primarily hydrogen, but oxygen is often needed to produce the electricity (“Fuel Cell Basics”). A great benefit is that unlike a battery, a fuel cell can run forever, as long as it has a supply of hydrogen and oxygen to turn into electricity (“Fuel Cell Technologies”).

           But again, how do the fuel cells convert the hydrogen into electricity that we can use? Generally, hydrogen atoms will enter the fuel cell through the anode and a chemical reaction takes place. This chemical reaction separates the electron from the hydrogen atom, leaving the hydrogen with a positive electrical charge (“Fuel Cell Basics”). The separated electrons travel through the electrical current to produce electricity, for electricity is produced when electrons are moving in a current. A fuel cell has a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) which only allows positively charged ions to pass through to the cathode. This is why the electrons travel on an external circuit, making electricity (“How Fuel Cells Work”). Oxygen atoms enter through the cathode and often bond together with the positive hydrogen ions and electrons in the end, after going through the circuit, to form water that flows out of the cell (“Fuel Cell Basics”).  

           So what is the problem? Why doesn’t everyone just go out and buy a fuel cell? Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Every fuel cell has advantages and drawbacks, but the biggest issue is that they are all expensive. So far, there has not been a fuel cell that has been cheap and efficient enough to convince everyone to get them. Therefore, we have not been able to replace all of the ways we are generally generating power such as hydroelectric, coal-fired, and nuclear power plants (“Fuel Cell Basics”). This is the problem that Professor Daniel Nocera is facing. He has an incredible invention that would allow us produce energy in an environmentally safe way, but convincing the public is hard, for the artificial leaf needs a fuel cell. 

                  Hitt, J. (2014, March 29). The artificial Leaf is here. again. Retrieved April 6, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/technology/the-artificial-leaf-is-here-again.html?ref=science &_r=0 .

                  How Fuel Cells work. (n.d.). Retrieved April 6, 2014, from https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fcv_PEM.shtml.

                  Smithsonian Institution. (2008). Fuel Cell basics. Retrieved April 6, 2014, from http://americanhistory.si.edu/fuelcells/basics.htm.

                  Fuel Cell Today. (2014). Fuel Cell Technologies. Retrieved April 6, 2014, from http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/technologies.

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  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • HOW TO SUBMIT
  • Past Publications
    • 2019 Publication >
      • Scientific Research
      • Mathematical Exploration
      • Scientific Exploration
      • Computer Science
    • 2018 Publication >
      • Artistic Creations
      • Historical and Current Explanations
      • Mathematic and Scientific Exploration
      • Scientific Research
    • 2017 Publication >
      • Artistic Creations
      • Historical and Current Explanations
      • Mathematic and Scientific Exploration
      • Reactions and Responses
      • Scientific Research
    • 2016 Publication >
      • Historical and Current Explanations
      • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations
      • Scientific Research
      • Reactions and Responses
      • Artistic Creations
    • 2015 Publication >
      • Historical and Current Explanations >
        • Bell Curves
        • Birds Vs. Turbines
        • Energy in the Obama Era
        • The Future of Neuroscience
        • Gender Gap in Math
        • GMOs--Yes or No?
        • The History of Minecraft: How a Swedish Indie Game Came to Dominate the World
        • The Effect of Prozac on the Brain
        • Philae Lander's Discovery of Organic Molecules
        • Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Turbines
        • Your Own Worst Enemy: An Overview of Lupus
        • The Methylhex Ban
        • The Effect of Lyme Disease on the Immune system
        • Infectious Mononucleosis
        • Replacing CFCs
        • The Switch
      • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations >
        • The 43rd Figure
        • The Clock
        • The Collatz Conjecture
        • Constructing a Soccer Ball
        • Determining how Ballparks Affect Batter's Ability to Create Hits
        • The Rotating Conundrum
        • Pythagorean Puzzle
        • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations
        • Kinetics Lab
        • Math in the Restaurant Business
        • Math as a Vessel for Social Change
        • Sustainability of Bottled Vs. Tap Water
        • Thoughts on the Lottery
        • Understanding Player Efficiency Rating
      • Scientific Research >
        • Communicating With Computers
        • The Mystery of Asthma
        • The Nanoscopic War Against Cancer
        • Phytochemistry
        • Solving the energy crisis with Intermediate Band Solar Cells
        • A Pain That Never Ends
        • Rapamycin Resistance
        • Ampacity of a Single Core Horizontal Cable
        • Morphological Properties of Texting Acronym Formation
        • cGAS and STING Expression
      • Reactions and Responses >
        • Can Humans Survive the Climate Crisis?
        • My Experience as a Teacher's Assistant
        • Ted Talk Responses
        • Teens For Food Justice
      • Artistic Creations >
        • Chandelier
        • Deltoidal Hexacontrahedon
        • Dodecahedron Card Trick
        • Eye of the Triangle
        • Free Radric Delantic Davis
        • The Grid
        • What Does A Randomly Composed Song Sound Like?
        • Science Wing Mural
    • 2014 Publication >
      • Cover Photo
      • Artistic Creations >
        • Art Using the Fibonacci Sequence
        • Computer Generated Architecture and Designs
        • Mathematical Landscape
        • Math Art
        • Math in Music
      • Historical and Current Explanations >
        • Algae Bio-Fuel
        • An Energy Alternative
        • Clean Energy In Transportation
        • Calorie Restriction
        • Creating Energy in the Modern World
        • Dietary Intervention Impact on Gut Microbial Gene Richness
        • Earthly Applications for NASA Technology
        • Explaining Relative Motion
        • Exploring Artificial Inteligence
        • Gamma Function
        • How Leaves Work
        • Hydrogen Fuel Cells
        • Music and Brain Development
        • Programming Calculators
        • The Science of Microsatellites
        • Sci-Fi Taser
        • Sloane's Gap
        • Sustainable Energy: Why Some Ideas Shine Brighter than Others
        • Understanding The Galvanic Cell
        • The Virus: Our Unforeseen Philosopher's Stone
        • What Are Fuel Cells and How Do They Work?
      • Mathematic and Scientific Explorations >
        • Astrocytes Expressing ALS-Linked Mutated SOD1 Release Factors Selectively Toxic to Motor Neurons
        • Big Bang
        • Dictyostelium Discoideum
        • The Future of Solar Cell Technology
        • And Many More...
      • Reactions and Responses >
        • Alternative Energy Sources, New but Unused
        • An Insight Into the Curious World of Ethnobotany
        • Challenging What We Think We Know
        • The Current State of American Education
        • Discovering New Numbers
        • Interview With an Architect
        • Life of Pi Response
        • Mathematical Art Video Commentary
        • Missing from Science Class
        • The Museum of Math
        • The Inside Scoop on a Real Mathematician
    • 2013 Publication