Build Your Own Band-aid Fuel Cell 84
ptorrone writes "Here's how to make a fuel cell from a band-aid...This has got to be the simplest way to build a fuel cell from scratch. The design is ridiculously simple, whilst being effective - it will allow you to explore the concepts of fuel cells in a ludicrously simple way."
Simple (Score:1)
Re:Simple (Score:1)
Re:The simplicity of Joe Cell and Water Electrolys (Score:1)
You know this do you? Might I ask how you know this? Hydrogen is the first element because it has one proton in it's nucleus (I say one proton, because that's the only thing for certain thanks to ions,) not because of some kind of political "we like hydrogen better than firstium" style of thing. The way the periodic table works is each element in the table has a certain number of protons in their nucleus and t
Re:Simple (Score:5, Funny)
Remove the backing from the adhesive and set it aside. Next, buy a fuel cell from the online fuel cell store. Then, carefully attach the fuel cell to the adhesive part of the band-aid.
Finally, wave your wand while saying "A-la peanut butter sandwiches", and hey presto! it is done!
Re:Simple (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Simple (Score:2)
Re:Redundant (Score:1, Offtopic)
meh (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:meh (Score:5, Insightful)
I've got one. Take a lemon, a piece of zinc, and a piece of copper...
well, you know the rest.
I know, it's not much. But it's hundreds of times more interesting than this article.
It's like saying "We've used a band aid to hold together this light bulb, battery, and piece of wire. look! we can show you how to make a flashlight out of a band aid!" Quite deceptive indeed.
Re:meh (Score:3, Insightful)
(alternatively, the finger is warming it up or something)
Re:meh (Score:2)
Re:meh (Score:3, Informative)
Plus, holding together the other componoents is not exactly unimportant! For the cost of obtaining them, sticking plasters are tough and their adhesive is durable.
Re:meh (Score:2, Insightful)
So basically this article just tells you how to hold the main piece into something (bandaid) that makes it look simple...
Re:meh (Score:2, Interesting)
Read my website to find out how to do it using some scotch tape instead! (This was just a joke, I have no such site.)
Seriously though. There must be something I'm missing here, right? I mean, is there supposed to maybe be some kind of interaction between the methanol and the antibacterials placed on some band-aids or something? Surely no one is dumb enough that they'd come up with thi
Re:meh (Score:1)
Re:meh (Score:1, Offtopic)
Re:meh (Score:2)
They probably paid the guy to write an article about interesting hobby fuel cell making, that uses some of their parts. So he figured the most novel idea was to put it on a bandage.
Re:meh (Score:2)
Re:meh (Score:3, Funny)
Re:meh (Score:1)
Yep! From the artice:
===
MEA stands for "Membrane Electrode Assembly", this is the bit that "does the works". You can make your own, they are rather difficult to assemble, much simpler is to buy one that is already made from www.fuelcellstore.com
===
Tomorrow - how to make your own car using only a can of paint...and a car.
...just a bandaid? (Score:1)
Fly Screen (Score:1)
Simple technology (Score:1, Redundant)
Simple technology is, ehm, simple to implement with possibly fewer failure chances and also fewer environmental issues.
This is what the world really needs now.
Re:Simple technology (Score:2)
You're mistaken...
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone.
Re:Simple technology (Score:2)
Re:Simple technology (Score:2)
Cause what the world needs now
is a new Frank Sinatra
so I can get you in bed.
Cause what the world needs now
is another folk singer
like I need a hole in my head.
Re:Simple technology (Score:2)
of course there is that double environmental issue caused by doing so.
Look, we have our current situation of burning fossil fuels and such because it is the simple solution. While the idea of wind power and solar power may appear simple the technology to make them viable solutions is anything but. Hell if it were simple we would have had someone marketing it to us day and night.
Re:Simple technology (Score:4, Insightful)
Where there is private ownership of land coupled with a high population density, there is an automatic incentive to make every square metre of land work for its keep. Poor forestry managers don't last long in that sort of climate; they invariably run out of money and get their business taken over by someone who can do the job properly. Basically what is happening is that the monetary value of the product is closely tracking the non-monetary value. The main failing of Capitalism as it is practised today is that it only takes notice of the monetary value of goods; but when non-monetary value is directly related to monetary value, then capitalism works.
Non-renewable energy appears cheap, because we're effectively stealing it from succeeding generations. The point will come eventually when it will cost more than renewable energy and that is when the world will have no option but to switch. The damage done by non-renewables is probably reversible, but that won't be anything like an instantaneous process.
I sometimes wonder if the answer to half the world's problems would not be to peg the world's currencies against the megawatt-hour, rather than the value of someting capricious like silver or gold. The price of crude oil being tied to the US dollar doesn't count: that is just as capricious, and the USA has a nasty tendency to invade countries who mention pricing their oil by the Euro.
Environmental economy (Score:1)
Re:Environmental economy (Score:1)
As far as the economy and why we pay athletes millions of dollars and farms nothing it's because our system works on the premise of scarcity and capital. Those with sca
Re:Simple technology (Score:2)
"I sometimes wonder if the answer to half the world's problems would not be to peg the world's currencies against the megawatt-hour, rather than the value of someting capricious like silver or gold."
Either way, it would likely be better than pegging the world's currencies to exactly nothing, which is the current system. It's certainly an interesting idea... the problem is savings. How do you store a megawatt-hour? I've read that at night the wholesale price of electricity can drop to zero because the
Re:Simple technology (Score:2)
well, how long does it last? (Score:4, Insightful)
anyhow, the bandaids were incidental. the "mea" part was $47.50. it's a heck of an expensive battery, even if IS a WONDER battery.
Re:well, how long does it last? (Score:1)
Of course, it depends on how fast the materials deteriorate aswell.
Judging by his pics, he's getting 0.26 Volts, but it depends on different factors such as moisture.
As for rechargability, it's a fuel cell. All you need to do is add more methanol.
But the Mea is something you can't really get past. Platinum's expensive stuff, and you won't want to be experimenting around too much with that to coat some
Let Us Consider 'Step 2' (Score:1)
Ok, I'm looking at the "5 Layer DMFC MEA", not so simple, How can I do a "McGiever" on this?
Now for a logistics question, "What would it take to apply this solution to an average home for One Year?" This would be VERY interesting.
Re:well, how long does it last? (Score:2)
Re:well, how long does it last? (Score:2)
here's the link, from the same website:
http://www.fuelcellstore.com/cgi-bin/fuelweb/view= Item/cat=/product=302 [fuelcellstore.com]
and here's the search result that yielded it:
http://www.fuelcellstore.com/cgi-bin/fuelweb/view= SearchResults/command=LogSearch?searchfor=mea [fuelcellstore.com]
Re:well, how long does it last? (Score:2)
Re:well, how long does it last? (Score:2)
Yea, all I searched for was "mea", but not "dmfc." The least expensive dmfc is indeed $69.50.
http://www.fuelcellstore.com/cgi-bin/fuelweb/view
In my grandmother times... (Score:5, Interesting)
Ingredients:
- One big nail
- Water
- Groats
- Bacon
- Salt, Spices, Herbs
- (...some more foodstuffs, I don't remember).
The idea was to cook a basic groats-based soup with nail in it. The nail didn't provide anything to the soup except of curiosity factor that made the host to provide the rest of the ingredients. The gypsy would eat one bowl, the host another, the nail would be saved for another cooking of the soup...
Here they use band-aid instead of the nail.
Re:In my grandmother times... (Score:1, Insightful)
This story "Nail Broth" was on a Danny Kaye album [ebay.com] called "Danny Kaye Tells 6 Stories From Faraway Places" (1960). I listened to it as a kid, but haven't heard it in years.
And yeah, having read the article, it's kinda like the band aid part is the least important...
SUMMARY: "ludicrously simple potato battery." (Score:1, Funny)
Incredibly Easy Way to Build A Ludicrously Simple Potato Battery.
Materials list:
Any ones will do. Make sure you don't get a sweet potato.
If you want to get really techie and heavy about stainless steel fly screen, the material that I used was top-notch stuff! The stainless steel was 318 grade - very high quality!! The screen was 72 wires per inch in both directions, with each wire bei
What about raves? (Score:2, Funny)
Add a nifty strobe effect and you'll have the perfect rave accessories anytime you fall off your bike!
Re:Okay, it might be neat... (Score:2)
The simplest way (Score:2)
Re:The simplest way (Score:1)
Re:The simplest way (Score:1)
Re:The simplest way (Score:1)
Fuel cell (Score:2, Insightful)
Outlaw this! (Score:2, Funny)
"Sorry bud, you're bleeding and we can't do anything to avoid infections. But doesn't it give you a fuzzy warm feeling that it's all done for national security?"
Or maybe do it properly (Score:2)
Re:Band-aids are for wusses (Score:1)
B) How come my ducts are sealed with it?
Re:Band-aids are for wusses (Score:2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_tape [wikipedia.org]
Re:Band-aids are for wusses (Score:1)
DIY (Score:2)
Re:DIY (Score:2)
Ludicrous (Score:1)
From the Editor? (Score:3, Funny)
This MAKE article is really disappointing... (Score:2)
What was I expecting from a "bandaid fuel cell" in an article from a magazine named MAKE?
Well, perhaps something describing how to build a fuel cell that doesn
Re:This MAKE article is really disappointing... (Score:1)
Re:This MAKE article is really disappointing... (Score:2)
Basically, you need on
Re:This MAKE article is really disappointing... (Score:1)
Not much of a solution. (Score:1)