Media Overview Media Information Press Release of 13 August 2001 The Birth of the Fuel Cell - But Who is the Father? by Don Prohaska, Boston / USA Everyone knows that Thomas Alva Edison invented the light bulb, Alexander Graham Bell the telephone, the Wright brothers the airplane, and that the Otto and Diesel engines were invented by two Germans bearing those names. But who the heck invented the fuel cell? This "disruptive" technology seems to be the latest focus of attention from Wall Street to Detroit, not to mention Berlin and Beijing. Fuel cells generate electricity with virtually zero pollution by combining gaseous fuels and air. There are different types generally described as high temperature or low temperature fuel cells. A recently published book, "The Birth of the Fuel Cell", by a descendant of one of the fathers of the fuel cell sheds new light on the early days of this technology. As it turns out, the fuel cell effect was discovered in 1838 by the Swiss professor Christian Friedrich Schoenbein (1799 – 1868) from the University of Basel. After some initial experiments in 1839 Sir William Robert Grove (1811 – 1896), a London lawyer with a strong engineering bent, in 1845 finally demonstrated an apparatus for the replacement of batteries. He suggested its use as a continuous power source for "experiments of slow crystallization (galvanic deposition of materials???) and possibly the telegraph", i.e. the internet of those days. By all standards, Schoenbein discovered the effect, while Grove must be credited for the invention of what he called the "gas battery", now better known as the "fuel cell". Since fuel cells are not yet a mass-market commodity, "Schoenbein" and "Grove" have not yet become household names. But just wait five years or so when these phenomenal devices start showing up in everything from vacuum cleaners to mobile phones, automobiles and homes (for grid-independent power generation). By then the recently published "The Birth of the Fuel Cell" will undoubtedly have been adapted by Hollywood into a fascinating motion picture starring Johnny Depp as "Bill" Grove and Tom Cruise as the irascible C. F. Schoenbein (who most likely inspired Alfred Nobel to invent dynamite – but more on that later).   New Evidence from Archives and Heirloom Schoenbein's great, great grandson, Dr. Ulf Bossel, is the author of "The Birth of the Fuel Cell". The text not only portrays the exciting evolution of science between 1835 and 1845, but is also presents the yet unpublished almost thirty years of correspondence (about 26 sets of letters) between Schoenbein and Grove. Both scientists were the hailed speakers at the 1839 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Birmingham. They became good friends and exchanged science as well as familial visits. Bossel today organizes one of Europe's most prestigious annual fuel cell conferences in Lucerne, Switzerland (www.efcf.com), and he holds more than twenty fuel cell patents. He has a doctorate (Ph.D. in Aeronautical Sciences) from the University of California at Berkeley and is a recognized consultant in the fuel cell industry. In past lives Bossel taught Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Syracuse University, was employed as a senior scientist at Germany's equivalent of NASA, was cofounder and first president of the German Solar Energy Society and headed fuel cell research for a major European corporation. "At the time Schoenbein made his discovery, the science of electricity itself was in its infancy. The concept of discrete molecules, atoms, electrons, ions or electric charges had not yet been proposed," explains Bossel, adding: "Also there was no general understanding of electricity. Voltage, current and power had not yet been sorted out conceptionally. Electricity's strength was measured by the length of an arc, the amount of gas liberated by electrolysis or by the number of persons feeling the sensation of an electric shock when holding hands." Schoenbein's description of the fuel cell effect first appeared in the English language in the January 1839 edition of "The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine", in short, "Philosophical Magazine". And, shortly thereafter, Schoenbein also set a precedent for fuel cell research funding when he received in 1839 a grant of 40 Pounds Sterling from the British Association for the Advancement of Science "For defraying the expenses of certain Experiments on the connexion between Chemical and Electrical Phenomena: the results to be reported to the Association at their next meeting." Today, U.S., European and Asian companies receive government funding for fuel cell research measured in the $100's of millions. Paradoxically, Schoenbein also discovered ozone during his early fuel cell experiments. Whenever the generated electricity was dissipated by electric arcs, a strange "electric smell" became noticeable. With his new powerful source of electricity, Schoenbein was able to generate enough ozone to identify the substance and announce its discovery in October of 1839. The new power source was the "alpha unit" of Grove's latest invention, a platinum zinc battery, which Schoenbein has purchased from his friend during his visit to England. It is an irony of history that the fuel cell effect and ozone were both discovered within one year by Christian Friedrich Schoenbein in his humble laboratory, a laundry room in the basement of a medieval building in Basel, Switzerland. Today, fuel cells are needed to reduce air pollution that leads to the formation of toxic ozone in the lower atmosphere, or that causes the destruction of the earth's delicate ozone shield in the higher regions. Whereas fuel cells are finally taking off, Schoenbein's invention of gun cotton (nitro cellulose) was basically a dud. Although the smokeless and odorless explosive is still used today, the replacement of conventional gunpowder by gun cotton became a difficult task. Schoenbein applied for patent protection in England. His patent attorney was, believe it or not, Sir William Grove. He also licensed his gun cotton technology to an English entrepreneur whose operations ended with a factory explosion that took the lives of two dozen or so employees. After the mishap in 1847 Schoenbein discontinued all work on gun cotton and never mentioned the word again in any of his publications. But the headline generating activities came to the attention of Alfred Nobel who supposedly used Schoenbein's work on gun cotton and other forms of nitro cellulose for his own developments of nitroglycerin and, subsequently, of dynamite. Grove, the Inventor While Schoenbein was content in his role as discoverer of effects, as well as professor of chemistry and physics in Basel, William Grove was much more the practical tinkerer. Grove must have read Schoenbein's original publication in January 1839, because he added a one-page postscript to an unrelated paper that appeared in February of 1839. Grove claims to have seen similar effects in his laboratory, but no further details are provided for the following three years. In the meantime, Schoenbein had published the results of his detailed studies on the fuel cell effect. Finally, in 1842 Grove returned to the subject and developed a practical fuel cell power source, which he called a "gas battery", from concept to reality (1845), although never to a commercial success. According to Bossel, "after six years of work on the subject, Grove finally realized the practical potential of his gas battery to become a continuous source of electric power and to replace batteries of conventional design," he says. Grove himself states that his invention "appears to me to offer some advantages over any form of battery hitherto constructed, and which, independently of any practical result, is, from circumstances peculiar to the gas battery, not without interest." In fact, Grove was hell-bent on finding practical applications for his batteries and fuel cells. On August 20, 1842 he wrote to Schoenbein: "A friend of mine in the neighbourhood has with me been getting up a boat which goes at about 3 miles an hour by Electro Magnetism with only 8 pairs of 6 inch plates of my battery & carries several hundred weights." This was, perhaps, the first electric boat. Although battery-powered, theoretically, Grove could have powered the vessel with a fuel cell. Nevertheless, this seems to be the first known report on a battery-powered electric boat. No doubt Grove's wife was less than enthusiastic at spotting an electric boat in the carriage house, much as Schoenbein's wife probably frowned on his experiments with gun cotton. And, the fuel cell of the 1840s was simply too expensive because of its reliance on expensive platinum as a key component (a barrier to success even today for some types of fuel cells). At the turn of the century, along came the low-cost (relatively speaking) internal combustion engine, and the fate of fuel cells was sealed for another century. Only now are fuel cells starting to catch up to internal combustion engines in cost per kilowatt although they are about twice as efficient in converting hydrocarbon fuels to electricity, which greatly adds to their economic viability, in addition to being considered environmentally friendly. The Art of Science Bossel's book is not only an excellent recounting of how the fuel cells of today found their beginning, but also is a window on the life of scientists of that age. Schoenbein, in fact, was also a close friend of the British scientist Michael Faraday whose name pops up frequently in his correspondence with Grove. Grove himself was not immune to the difficulties of being an entrepreneur, and on November 23, 1850, he wrote to Schoenbein: "As for me business & family care will I fear shut up my scientific career. We have lately suffered much anxiety by the scarlet fever breaking out in my family. My two sons have had it & at present it has not spread further but it is too much to hope that my other children will escape. Faraday is to give the Bakerian lecture on Thursday at the RS (Royal Society)….". Grove incidentally but proudly also informs Schoenbein that his son had climbed the Matterhorn. If fact, F. Crawford Grove was the first person to reach the top of this challenging peak from Italy (August 1867) and from Switzerland (September 1868). The promise of electric powered devices was just beginning to appear when fuel cells were in their infancy. On February 19, 1866, Grove, ever the curious scientist writes to Schoenbein, "A new electrical machine from Berlin is the latest curiosity. You doubtless know it. Two glass plates (one rotating) near each other. The stationary one cut thus (note: a small diagram follows)…… are electrified by a stick of shellac when a conductor on the other side of the revolving plate gives off a flood of electricity. It is very inexplicable to us." Grove may have been referring to the invention of the dynamo by Werner von Siemens. Alternating current from rotating generators rapidly replaced direct current power from batteries and fuel cells. But the fuel cell technology came back to life one hundred years later for space applications and as a clean power source for portable, mobile and stationary electric power generators. And, friction between European nationalities (Schoenbein was born in Metzingen, Germany, and spent his youth under Napoleon's occupation) is also evident in correspondence between Schoenbein and Grove. On February 12, 1858, in a postscript to Grove, Schoenbein notes: "I was rather vexed to see the other day a misprint in my letter to Faraday published in the last number of the Philosophical Magazine. Instead of Academy of Munich they put Academy of Paris and you know perhaps that on purpose I abstain from communicating even the slightest note to the French Institutions. I wont have any thing to do with the "savants" there." Today, Grove is honored by a fuel cell conference named after him that is held every second year in England. Schoenbein will soon have a small museum devoted to his life and works in Metzingen, the town of his birth, not far from Stuttgart where Daimler-Chrysler is working hard to develop the fuel cell as the successor to the Otto and Diesel engines. And, every July during the final session of the European Fuel Cell Forum at Lucerne a "Schoenbein Medal of Honor" is awarded for outstanding contributions to fuel cell science and technology. This year, Dr. Manfred Waidhas of Siemens received the award for his pioneering work in the area of alkaline and solid polymer fuel cells. The paperback version of "The Birth of the Fuel Cell" (about $25.00 plus postage) and the proceedings of recent fuel cell conferences can be ordered from the European Fuel Cell Forum, P.O. Box 99, 5452 Oberrohrdorf, Switzerland (fax ++41-56-496-4412, email: forum@efcf.com). Notice: If you would like to receive this text as an electronic document (MS-Word, *.doc), please submit your request via email to: forum@efcf.com. We will respond to this request by sending the desired document to your email user address. Free copyright, proof copy requested >> back to Media Overview

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