Cathodic Reduction of Oxygen in Fuel Cells and Corrosion Cells

Abstract

IT is not generally appreciated how our way of life is influenced by the cathodic reduction of oxygen. Because of the sluggish character of that reduction, metallic corrosion is usually a slow process; that is the reason why iron, the cheapest of metals, can be used at all. Other consequences of the sluggishness are less welcome; it makes the area of the cathodes needed for fuel cells inconveniently large. Thus, despite the fact that a fuel cell might obtain twice as much electric energy from the same amount of fuel as a system based on a heat engine (whether the fuel be coal, oil or gas), fuel cells are not used at power stations because of the high capital cost. In situations in which the capital cost is high due to other causes, a fuel cell works well; the Bacon cell¹, developed at Cambridge and modified in the United States, is to be used in the Apollo spacecraft. The whole situation of domestic power production might be changed overnight if a means were discovered to accelerate the reaction O₂ + 4e + 2H₂O = 4OH⁻.