As the world shifts toward clean energy sources like solar and wind, managing the power supply becomes a serious challenge.
These sources don’t produce energy at a steady rate—some days are sunny, others are cloudy; winds come and go.
That means we need technology that can store energy when there’s too much and deliver it when there’s not enough.
Now, engineers at West Virginia University have developed a powerful new fuel cell that could do both.
This fuel cell can switch between storing energy and generating electricity, and it’s tough enough to survive extreme heat, humidity, and pressure—conditions you’d find in real-world industrial environments.
The technology is based on something called a protonic ceramic electrochemical cell, or PCEC. These devices can produce electricity and hydrogen by splitting water molecules, and then store that energy for later use.
But until now, PCECs have struggled to perform reliably over long periods of time, especially when exposed to hot steam. Their layers would weaken, and their performance would fade.
To fix these problems, materials scientist Dr. Xingbo Liu and his team designed a new type of fuel cell called a “conformally coated scaffold” (CCS).
The idea is to build strong internal layers and seal them with a special coating that remains stable in high heat and moisture.
The new design allows heat, electricity, and protons—the particles that carry energy—to move smoothly through the fuel cell while keeping it intact.
Their new prototype proved incredibly durable. It ran for more than 5,000 hours at a scorching 600 degrees Celsius and 40% humidity.
That’s nearly three times longer than the best-performing fuel cell of this kind to date. Even more impressive, the device didn’t degrade over time. It continued to operate reliably as it switched between modes of producing and storing energy.
The team also created a working version of a system that uses these CCS cells to store hydrogen and use it for generating electricity. The system ran for long 12-hour cycles and handled frequent switching without any damage. That’s exactly the kind of flexibility needed in a modern power grid powered by solar panels, wind turbines, and even ocean wave energy.
Another bonus? This fuel cell runs on water vapor, not purified water—so it can even use saltwater or low-quality water, which makes it more practical in real-world settings.
The work, published in Nature Energy, could mark a big step toward building a smarter, more stable power grid—one that can respond to changing energy demands and help bring more clean energy into our daily lives.
Source: KSR.
