Thin-film solid oxide fuel cells using proton conductor

摘要

Recently, many researches of fuel cells have focused on intermediate-temperature fuel cells such as high-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells (HT-PEFCs) and low- temperature solid oxide fuel cells (LT-SOFCs). One of these fuel cells, LT-SOFC, has strong advantages in terms of start-up time, material durability, and efficiency. Our group has investigated thin-film SOFC using Y-doped barium zirconate (BYZ) and yttrium- stabilized zirconate (YSZ). Among these two electrolytes, BYZ is a proton conductor with 10~(-2) S/cm conductivity at around 300°C. It is utilized as the electrolyte for fabricating thin- film SOFCs. This work includes very complicated processes in order to minimize pin-holes and electrical shorts on layer by layer (electrode, electrolyte and electrode).