Development of thin-film solid oxide fuel cells supported on anode/metal substrates

Abstract

Lowering the operating temperature of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) has been studied at worldwide institutes over the past decades. In the process development, nano-structuring electrode catalysts for better reaction kinetics and thin-film electrolyte for reducing the ionic conduction resistance have been explored so far. Thin-film electrolyte enables low-temperature operation of SOFCs using conventional materials. Therefore, if the cell fabrication using the thin film electrolyte can be implemented with relatively low-cost and scalable technology, it will be possible to overcome the many difficulties that researchers suffered due to the high temperature. In this study, we developed a process for fabricating a button-size and large-area SOFC unit cells by introducing a thin-film electrolyte, supported on anode/metal substrates. Morphology analysis confirmed that the pinhole-free thin-film electrolyte was uniformly deposited. Electrochemical performance evaluation showed sufficient power density and area-specific resistance without using new materials.