Grove fuel cell (gas voltaic battery)
Pila de combustible de Grove (batería de gas)
- Date
- 1838-1842 · confidence high
- Place
- London, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- William Robert Grove (and Christian Schönbein)
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Grove combined hydrogen and oxygen over platinum electrodes and obtained current, the reverse of electrolysis of water. It was the first fuel cell; he also created the Grove cell (zinc-platinum) used in telegraphs.
Christian Schönbein (Basel) described the principle in 1838 and Grove built it in 1839 and 1842; the two corresponded. Practical application came 120 years later.
What it led to
- Bacon's fuel cell (1959) and the Gemini missions
- Grove cells in telegraphs and the first electric boat
- gas electrochemistry