Development of solid oxide fuel cell materials for intermediate-to-low temperature operation

摘要

The commercialization of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) needs the development of functional materials for intermediate-to-low temperature (400-700 ℃, ILT) operation. Recently, we have successfully developed new electrolyte materials for ILT-SOFCs, including Ce_(0.8)Sm_(0.2)O_(1.9) (SDC), BaCe_(0.8)Sm_(0.2)O_(2.9) (BCSO) and SDC-carbonate composites. Compared with the state-of-the-art yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), these materials exhibit much higher ionic conductivity at ILT range. Especially, SDC-carbonate composites show an ionic conductivity of 10~(-2) to 1 Scm~(-1) between 400 and 600 ℃ in fuel cell environment. Some new cathode materials were investigated for above electrolyte materials and showed promising performance. Alternative anode materials were developed to directly utilize alcohol fuels. A dry-pressing and co-firing process was employed to fabricate thin SDC and BCSO electrolyte membranes as well as thick SDC-carbonate composite electrolyte with acceptable density on anode substrate. Many efforts have also been made on fabrication of larger-size planar cells and exploitation of reliable sealing materials.