Nano-Scaled Mixed Conductors for High Performance SOFCs at ≤ 600°C

Abstract

Lowering the operating temperature of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) to the range of 400 to 600°C requires powerful electrodes and thin-film electrolytes to compensate the increasing losses which arise from electrochemical processes at the electrodes and transport phenomena in the electrolyte. In this contribution we present for the first time the combination of three approaches that have already shown very promising results individually: (i) a thin-film 8YSZ electrolyte with ~1.5 µm thickness derived by a cost-effective wet-chemical method, (ii) a nano-scaled La 0.6 Sr 0.4 CoO 3-d (LSC) thin-film cathode, deposited by metal organic deposition (MOD) via spin-coating and (iii) a nano-scaled Ni/8YSZ anode layer, induced in-operando by applying our reverse current treatment (RCT).