History
Who really did invent the fuel cell principle is disputed. Fact is: A simple test set-up generated an electric current.
The Beginning
The principle of fuel cells was discovered already in the first half of 19th century. Many authors attribute the discovery of the fuel cell to the English physicist Sir William Robert Grove (1811 to 1896). First known experiments about the fuel cell effect were accomplished by Christian Friedrich Schönbein (1799 to 1868; at that time professor at the University of Basel). He detected a voltage by dipping two platinum wires, which were flowed by hydrogen respectively oxygen, into an electrolyte (probable sulphuric acid). This was published in the January edition 1839 of the «Philosophical Magazine”, which was known to Grove. However in contrary to Schönbein, Grove was a more practice-oriented man: he intended to use the fuel cell effect and designed a «gas battery” between 1842 and 1845.
The Forgotten
Towards the end of the 19th century Werner von Siemens (1816 - 1892) discovered the electro-dynamic principle. Due to the rapid development of combustion engines at turn of the century, the fuel cell technology was not able to gain importance and fell into oblivion.
The Comeback
For applications in aerospace and submarines fuel cells were rediscovered in the second half of the 20th century. Because of the relatively high costs, fuel cells (mostly alkali fuel cells AFC) are used only in niche applications until today. Due to the expectations based on the superior principle on one hand and the ongoing scientific progress on the other, fuel cells have become again a central object of research and development within the last 20 years.