Materials issues and recent developments in molten carbonate fuel cells

Abstract

Molten carbonate fuel cell is one of the most promising high efficiency and sustainable power generation technologies, as demonstrated by the availability of several commercial units nowadays. Despite the significant progress made over the past few decades, the issues like component stability in carbonate melts and lower power density as compared to other high-temperature fuel cell systems need to be overcome to meet cost and lifetime targets. An improvement in the catalysts and system design for in situ reforming of fuel is critical to make molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs) compatible with real world fuels with minimal preprocessing requirements. Thus a significant opportunity exists for materials R&D in the MCFC area. In the present review, the key issues with MCFC component materials: cathode, anode, matrix, current collectors and bipolar plates, are discussed. The alternative materials and strategies adapted by the MCFC R&D community to mitigate these issues are discussed with emphasis on research trends and developments over the past decade. © Springer-Verlag 2012.