Research scientist Dong Ding is developing direct carbon fuel cells at INL's Energy Innovation 

Laboratory. Credit: Idaho National Laboratory Advancements in a fuel cell technology powere

d  by   solid  carbon  could  make  electricity  generation  from  resources  such  as  coal and 

biomass cleaner  and  more  efficient,  according to a new paper published by Idaho National 

Laboratory researchers.

The fuel cell design incorporates innovations in three components: the anode, the electrolyte 

and the fuel. Together, these advancements allow the fuel cell to utilize about three times as 

much carbon as earlier direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) designs.The fuel cells also operate at 

lower  temperatures  and  showed  higher  maximum  power  densities than  earlier  DCFCs,

according to INL materials engineer  Dong Ding. The results appear in this week's edition of 

the  journal   Advanced   Materials.  Whereas   hydrogen  fuel  cells  (e  .g.,  proton  exchange 

mem  brane  (PEM) and  other  fuel cells)  generate  electricity  from  the  chemical  reaction 

between pure hydrogen and oxygen, DCFCs can use any number of carbon-based resource

s for fuel, including coal, coke, tar, biomass and organic waste.

Because DCFCs make use of readily available fuels, they are potentially more efficient than 

conventional  hydrogen  fuel  cells.  "You  can  skip  the energy-intensive step of producing 

hydrogen," Ding said.

But earlier DCFC designs have several drawbacks: They require high temperatures—700 to 

900   degrees  Celsius —which  makes  them  less  efficient  and  less durable. Further, as a 

consequence of those high temperatures, they're typically constructed of expensive materials 

that can handle the heat.