William Robert Grove (1811-1896) was a lawyer who became a scientist. He is famous for having developed an improved battery in 1838, the Grove cell. This battery consists of a platinum electrode sunken in nitric acid and a zinc electrode in zinc sulfate. This device generates up to 12 amperes at 1,8 volts.
In a fuel cell, the hydrogen and oxygen (or the air) chemical energy is directly converted into electrical energy – no combustion needed. In 1800, the british scientists William Nicholson and Anthony Carlisle had described the idea to use electricity in order to transform water into hydrogen and oxygen. However, according to Grove, combining gases to produce electricity and water was beyond anything that had been recorded at that time. He realized that by combining several electrodes in a series circuit, he could “affect the deconstruction of water by using its composition”. He quickly carried out this achievement with the so-called “gas battery”, the very first fuel cell. This technology was rediscovered in the 60s during the space race and has been constantly improved ever since.
