THIN-FILM SOLID OXIDE FUEL-CELL WITH HIGH-PERFORMANCE AT LOW-TEMPERATURE

A planar thin-film solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) was developed at the L awrence Berkeley National Laboratory - Materials Science Division. The thin-film SOFC is fabricated with an inexpensive and scalable techniq ue involving colloidal deposition of YSZ on porous NiO-YSZ substrates, yielding SOFCs capable of high power density at an operating temperat ure of 800 degrees C. The thickness of the YSZ film deposited onto the porous substrates is approximately 10 mu m after sintering. Ni-YSZ/YS Z/LSM cells built with this technique have exhibited theoretical open circuit voltages (OCVs), high diffusion limited current densities and high power density. The cells have been tested for long periods of tim e (over 700 h) and have been thermally cycled from 600-800 degrees C w hile demonstrating excellent stability over time.