Fuel cells are a much-discussed technology with great potential that is now seeking its place in the economy. And as is always the case with new technologies in the economy, a lot of money is suddenly invested, but the research and findings are hardly shared.
This is where our Zinc-Air Fuel Cell Citizen Science project, led by Oliver Schlüter, comes in. The theory behind zinc-air fuel cells is already well advanced, while the market readiness of the products is only just being proven. The cell has the potential to become an environmentally friendly and efficient source of energy and, with zinc as a regenerative medium, offer a way of storing large quantities of solar energy on a long-term or seasonal basis.
However, the project is not without its challenges. Developing an efficient and long-lasting gas cathode, solving the problem of dendrite formation and optimizing the electrolyte composition are just some of the hurdles that need to be overcome.
While companies (e.g. EOS, Zinc8, e-Zinc) keep their knowledge to themselves, Oliver Schlüter has been sharing all information about the ZAC+ project with the world and an open licence since the start of the research. And not only that, we are now inviting people to experiment with him in various low-threshold workshops and to jointly increase knowledge about the zinc-air fuel cell. These workshops are documented and form the basis for subsequent experiments.
As all the information is already available online, we refer here to the history and the state of the art in the wiki. For those who prefer a more condensed version, we recommend the FAQ page. If you are thinking about taking part in a workshop, you can find the minutes of previous ones here. And feel free to get in touch with us. The research locations from March 2025 are as follows:
- Rahden local group
- Minden local group
- Dorsten local group
- Berlin local group
As the documentation of the project takes up a lot of time, we hope that the documentation will also be continued by funding the project. We will continue anyway, and active participation is desirable.
We wish all readers a happy browsing through an exciting open source hardware project! Not only are finished drawings published here, but people are also invited to participate in the development process.
https://wiki.opensourceecology.de/Zn/O-Brennstoffzelle (A little tip for reading: the headings in the wiki are usually links to further information).
You can find the first videos on Youtube! More information will follow in the coming weeks.
