A fuel cell that promises to be both cheaper and more efficient than existing designs has been developed by Paul Kenis of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In a typical fuel cell, one chamber contains fuel that reacts across a porous membrane with oxygen in a second chamber, liberating electrons that provide electrical power. Kenis鈥檚 system does away with the membrane by exploiting a phenomenon known as 鈥渓aminar flow鈥�, where tiny streams of liquid behave so viscously they do not mix when squeezed past one another. That not only simplifies the cell鈥檚 design, but might lead to efficiency increases of up to 40 per cent.
Technology
Membraneless fuel cell created
It promises to be cheaper and more efficient than existing designs works by squeezing liquids past each other with no mixing
