Solid-oxide fuel cells materials challenges

Lashtabeg A, Skinner SJ (2006) Solid oxide fuel cells - a challenge for materials chemists J Mater Chem 16 3161... 

Green, M.A. (2007). Thin-Film Solar Cells Review of Materials, Technologies and Commercial Status. /. Mater. Sci Mater. Electron., Vol. 18, pp. S15-S19 Green, M.A. Emery, K. Hishikawa, Y. Warta, W. (2011). Solar Cell Efficiency Tables (Version 37). Prog. Photovolt Res. AppL, Vol. 19, pp. 84-92 Henne, R. (2007). Solid Oxide Fuel Cells A Challenge for Plasma Deposition Processes.. Therm. Spray Techn., Vol. 16, pp. 381-403... 

A. Lashtabeg, S.J. Skinner, Solid oxide fuel cells—a challenge for materials chemists J. Mater. Chem. 16(31), 3161-3170 (2006)... 

Abstract Single-chamber solid oxide fuel cells (SC-SOFCs) immerse the entire cell in a mixture of fuel and oxidizer gases within a single chamber, which eliminates the need for high temperature sealant, simplifies construction, and increases reliability over traditional double-chamber cells. However, there are challenges, such as low fuel utilization and electrode catalytic selectivity, that need to be overcome. This brief review paper looks at recent improvements in materials, processing, and operation of SC-SOFCs, which are rapidly approaching the performances of the double-chamber fuel cells and may become attractive for specific fuel cell applications. 

PM Materials Challenges in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Subhash C. Singhal, Pacific Northwest National... 

Litzelman SJ, Hertz JL, Jung W, Tuller HL (2008) Opportunities and challenges in materials development for thin film solid oxide fuel cells. Fuel Cells 8(5) 294-302... 

The most common solid oxide, which is used as electrolyte in SOFC, is a mixture of zirconia and yttria. YSZ contains between 8 and 10 mol% yttrium. It is an oxide ion conductor with a sufficiently high conductivity at temperatures around 1000 °C. This is an advantage for the direct oxidation of fuels in the fuel cell, but is a very challenging temperature for any material. Thermodynamics predict an efficiency of 80%. A further advantage of the high operation temperature is the possibility to efficiently use the waste heat in a combined cycle power plant. 

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