Study on the performance and the reliability of nanostructured anodes for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (LT-SOFC)

Abstract

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are promising next-generation power sources. SOFCs have higher efficiency than other competing energy conversion technologies because they directly convert chemical energy of fuel into electrical energy by electrochemical reactions. However, the high operating temperature of SOFCs (700~800°C) has limited the development and deployment of this technology because it induces fast degradation and poor reliability. Therefore, lowering the operating temperature is a major issue in SOFC research, and it has been actively studied over the past decade. This study investigated the performance and reliability of nanostructured anode for low-temperature operating SOFCs (LT-SOFCs). The influence of the nanostructured anode on the operation of the SOFC is evaluated through electrochemical analysis. The correlation between microstructure and performance is observed and based on the results, a novel structure of the anode is proposed. Although the amount of Ni catalyst was significantly reduced to improve the reliability, the electrochemical performance was not compromised by nanostructured, and the improved reliability was proved by stress analysis. It is observed that the newly designed anode significantly increased not only the electrochemical performance but also the mechanical stability. This study provides insights to the stability issue that has been obstacles in the commercialization of nanostructured SOFCs. This study is focused on the anode of SOFC, however, it is expected that the methodology can be extended to other components as well.