Advances in Ceramic Thin Films Fabricated by Pulsed Laser Deposition for Intermediate-Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Abstract

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) as one of the clean electrochemical energy conversion devices have acquired increasing attention recently due to the high efficiency, low emission, and excellent fuel flexibility. Nevertheless, the practical application of SOFCs is hindered by poor stability and high cost. Thus, lowering the operating temperatures is critical to increase the lifetime and reduce the cost of SOFCs. However, the electrolyte and electrode materials used in high-temperature SOFCs suffer from insufficient ionic conductivity and poor electrocatalytic activity at lower operating temperatures, respectively. Nanomaterials and relevant nanotechnologies have great potential to enhance the performance of SOFCs operated at lower temperatures because of the enlarged surface area, distinct surface, and interface properties. Among various nanotechnologies, pulsed laser deposition (PLD) has been widely employed in SOFCs to reduce the operating temperature. Herein, we present an in-time review about the PLD-involved fabrication of key components in intermediate-temperature (IT) SOFCs in terms of cathodes, electrolytes, anodes, and interlayers. The superiority of the PLD technique to other traditional fabrication methods is emphasized, and design strategies for the key components in IT-SOFCs are presented and discussed. We also point out the trends, current challenges, and future directions that exist in this dynamic field. This review will inspire substantial interests from various disciplines and provide some valuable guidance for future development of PLD-involved energy storage and conversion devices.

Growth of nanoporous high-entropy oxide thin films by pulsed laser deposition

“…Pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) is a physical vapor deposition technique capable of growing multicomponent oxide thin films with controllable crystallinity, microstructure, and nanoscale morphology, and is thereby widely used in structure-property relation research of electrochemical, dielectric, ferroelectric, magnetic, and high-temperature superconducting fields [6][7][8][9][10]. KrF excimer lasers with 248 nm wavelength and 20-35 ns pulse duration are the most commonly used laser source, while solid-state lasers, such as frequency quadrupled Nd:YAG with a 266 nm wavelength and 5-10 ns pulse duration, have been gradually becoming more popular recently due to nontoxicity and small volume for convenient transport and placement [11].…”

A review on the preparation of anode materials and anode films for solid oxide fuel cell applications

“…Among the advantages of this method including it is a simple technique, reproducible and produces anode films with a better morphology 180 . The drawbacks of this method are it is expensive, it has low accuracy and deposition rate, and its deposition scale and controllable growth area are limited 180 . SEM images of Ni‐GDC electrodes synthesized by PLD are shown in Figure 10 65 .…”

Degradation Mechanisms of Metal-Supported Solid Oxide Cells and Countermeasures: A Review

“…The application of advanced technologies such as PLD, ALD, and SPS makes it possible to reduce the thickness of electrolytes to 2 µm and even less than 1 µm [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Then, thin-film electrolyte metal-supported SOCs (TF-MSCs) with operating temperatures of below 600 °C have gradually garnered increasing amounts of attention from researchers, especially after 2010 [ 17 , 19 , 20 , 151 ].…”

“…The operating temperature can be reduced to 800 °C and even lower [ 9 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. With the application of advanced technologies such as pulsed laser deposition (PLD), sputtering, and suspension plasma spraying (SPS), the thickness of the electrolyte can be further reduced to less than 1 μm, which allows the operating temperature down to 400 °C [ 17 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. The decreasing operating temperature allows for metal supports (such as nickel and ferritic stainless steel) with significant advantages.…”