Improved Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Performance with Nanostructured Electrolytes

Chao, Cheng-Chieh; Hsu, Ching-Mei; Cui, Yi; Prinz, Fritz B.

doi:10.1021/nn201354p

Cited by 196 publications

(138 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…1,2 Zirconia finds a wide variety of applications for its mechanical strength and toughness, 3 high chemical resistance, and thermal stability. 4 ZrO 2 films are used for the production of fuel gas sensors, 5 fuel cells, 6,7 and in catalytic applications as supports or active phases. [8][9][10] The excellent biocompatibility makes also zirconia a material of choice for orthopaedic prosthesis and dental restorative applications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cluster-assembled cubic zirconia films with tunable and stable nanoscale morphology against thermal annealing

Borghi

Sogne

Lenardi

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Physics

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Nanostructured zirconium dioxide (zirconia) films are very promising for catalysis and biotechnological applications: a precise control of the interfacial properties of the material at different length scales and, in particular, at the nanoscale, is therefore necessary. Here, we present the characterization of cluster-assembled zirconia films produced by supersonic cluster beam deposition possessing cubic structure at room temperature and controlled nanoscale morphology. We characterized the effect of thermal annealing in reducing and oxidizing conditions on the crystalline structure, grain dimensions, and topography. We highlight the mechanisms of film growth and phase transitions, which determine the observed interfacial morphological properties and their resilience against thermal treatments. Published by AIP Publishing. [http://dx

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cluster-assembled cubic zirconia films with tunable and stable nanoscale morphology against thermal annealing

Borghi

Sogne

Lenardi

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Physics

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“…However, the ceria-based electrolyte can introduce electronic conduction by partially reducing CeO 2 to CeO 2 À d at low oxygen partial pressures, which restricts the reduction of the electrolyte thickness [7][8][9] . For that reason, studies on the fabrication of thin electrolytes have focused on yttria-stabilized zirconia, which has been widely used as an electrolyte material at high temperatures, rather than the ceria-based electrolytes [10][11][12][13] . When using the thin ceria-based electrolytes, buffer layers should be applied to protect the materials from reduction by preventing contact with the reducing gas 14,15 .…”

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confidence: 99%

Tailoring gadolinium-doped ceria-based solid oxide fuel cells to achieve 2 W cm−2 at 550 °C

2014

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Low-temperature operation is necessary for next-generation solid oxide fuel cells due to the wide variety of their applications. However, significant increases in the fuel cell losses appear in the low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells, which reduce the cell performance. To overcome this problem, here we report Gd 0.1 Ce 0.9 O 1.95 -based low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells with nanocomposite anode functional layers, thin electrolytes and core/shell fibrestructured Ba 0.5 Sr 0.5 Co 0.8 Fe 0.2 O 3 À d -Gd 0.1 Ce 0.9 O 1.95 cathodes. In particular, the report describes the use of the advanced electrospinning and Pechini process in the preparation of the core/shell-fibre-structured cathodes. The fuel cells show a very high performance of 2 Wcm À 2 at 550°C in hydrogen, and are stable for 300 h even under the high current density of 1 A cm À 2 . Hence, the results suggest that stable and high-performance solid oxide fuel cells at low temperatures can be achieved by modifying the microstructures of solid oxide fuel cell components.

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“…This is particularly important because modelling is expected to guide the electrode design and to set the minimum requirements for the next generation of 3D printing and other manufacturing techniques. 15,16,21,27 In this paper, a mathematical model is proposed in the Modelling section to provide guidelines for the rational design of the mesoscale structural modification of SOFC electrodes. The model is kept as simple as possible to get analytical solutions whenever possible, which are helpful to predict the upper bounds of performance and relate them to the microstructural properties of the composite electrode.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…26 Ideally, 3D printing offers the opportunity to controllably manufacture pillars of any shape, with the desired geometric and spacing requirements, in order to provide a preferential pathway for ionic conduction. 22,25 It is important to note that this mesoscale modification differs from the corrugation of the electrolyte, 16,27 such as in the mono-block-layer built (MOLB) design, 26,28 where any enhancement in power density is due to the increase in the geometric electrode-electrolyte interfacial area per unit of planar projected area.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Guidelines for the Rational Design and Engineering of 3D Manufactured Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Composite Electrodes

Bertei

Tariq

Yufit

et al. 2016

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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The growth of 3D printing has opened the scope for designing microstructures for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with improved power density and lifetime. This technique can introduce structural modifications at a scale larger than particle size but smaller than cell size, such as by inserting electrolyte pillars of ∼5-100 μm. This study sets the minimum requirements for the rational design of 3D printed electrodes based on an electrochemical model and analytical solutions for functional layers with negligible electronic resistance and no mixed conduction. Results show that this structural modification enhances the power density when the ratio k eff between effective conductivity and bulk conductivity of the ionic phase is smaller than 0.5. The maximum performance improvement is predicted as a function of k eff . A design study on a wide range of pillar shapes indicates that improvements are achieved by any structural modification which provides ionic conduction up to a characteristic thickness ∼10-40 μm without removing active volume at the electrolyte interface. The best performance is reached for thin (<∼2 μm) and long (>∼80 μm) pillars when the composite electrode is optimised for maximum three-phase boundary density, pointing toward the design of scaffolds with well-defined geometry and fractal structures. Many studies in the literature have recognised the importance of the electrode microstructure in affecting the power density and the lifetime of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs).1-7 Significant enhancements in power density have been achieved through the statistical control of the microstructural properties by tuning porosity, 8,9 volume fractions, 2,8,10 particle size 11-13 and even tortuosity of the phases.14 However, nowadays the design of the electrode microstructure can be optimised with unprecedented precision through the advent of 3D printing and additive manufacturing techniques. 15-17Additive manufacturing allows for the development of electrodes with 3D architectures, thus going beyond what conventional fabrication techniques, such as tape casting and screen printing, can produce. The exploitation of 3D additive manufacturing has been successfully applied by the battery community [18][19][20] and the implementation of this approach to SOFCs is currently under investigation.15,21 One of the most promising applications consists of the insertion of ionconducting pillars connected to the electrolyte 15,[22][23][24][25] as reported in Figure 1. Such a modification can be regarded as the mesoscale structural control of electrode microstructure, where the term mesoscale here refers to a dimension larger than the typical constituent particle size (<1 μm) but smaller than the characteristic length of the cell, that is, falling in the order of 5-100 μm.26 Ideally, 3D printing offers the opportunity to controllably manufacture pillars of any shape, with the desired geometric and spacing requirements, in order to provide a preferential pathway for ionic conduction. 22,25 It is important to note that this mesos...

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Improved Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Performance with Nanostructured Electrolytes

Cited by 196 publications

References 38 publications

Cluster-assembled cubic zirconia films with tunable and stable nanoscale morphology against thermal annealing

Cluster-assembled cubic zirconia films with tunable and stable nanoscale morphology against thermal annealing

Tailoring gadolinium-doped ceria-based solid oxide fuel cells to achieve 2 W cm−2 at 550 °C

Guidelines for the Rational Design and Engineering of 3D Manufactured Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Composite Electrodes

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