Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University , Stanford, California 94305, United States.
Nano Lett. 2013 Sep 11;13(9):4551-5. doi: 10.1021/nl402661p. Epub 2013 Aug 28.
Obtaining high power density at low operating temperatures has been an ongoing challenge in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), which are efficient engines to generate electrical energy from fuels. Here we report successful demonstration of a thin-film three-dimensional (3-D) SOFC architecture achieving a peak power density of 1.3 W/cm(2) obtained at 450 °C. This is made possible by nanostructuring of the ultrathin (60 nm) electrolyte interposed with a nanogranular catalytic interlayer at the cathode/electrolyte interface. We attribute the superior cell performance to significant reduction in both the ohmic and the polarization losses due to the combined effects of employing an ultrathin film electrolyte, enhancement of effective area by 3-D architecture, and superior catalytic activity by the ceria-based interlayer at the cathode. These insights will help design high-efficiency SOFCs that operate at low temperatures with power densities that are of practical significance.
在固体氧化物燃料电池（SOFC）中，获得在低工作温度下的高功率密度一直是一个持续的挑战，SOFC 是一种从燃料中高效产生电能的引擎。在这里，我们报告了成功展示了一种薄膜三维（3-D）SOFC 结构，在 450°C 时获得了 1.3 W/cm²的峰值功率密度。这是通过在阴极/电解质界面处的超薄膜（60nm）电解质中纳米结构化和纳米颗粒催化中间层来实现的。我们将优异的电池性能归因于由于采用了超薄电解质膜、通过 3-D 结构提高了有效面积以及在阴极处的基于氧化铈的中间层具有优异的催化活性，从而显著降低了欧姆和极化损耗。这些见解将有助于设计在低温下运行、功率密度具有实际意义的高效 SOFC。
