The solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) continues to show great promise for the ge
neration of electricity for an increasing range of applications. The presen
t SOFC technology is based on an all-ceramic design, which eliminates the c
orrosion problems associated with fuel cells containing liquid electrolytes
. To obtain good electrochemical performance with the currently used materi
als, this all-ceramic fuel cell operates at 1000 degreesC. Despite a signif
icant amount of research and several successful demonstrations at the 100 k
W level, commercialisation of the technology is not as rapid as anticipated
. This is, in part, due to the high operating temperatures required, necess
itating the use of expensive materials. As a result of these problems, ther
e has been an effort over the past few years to lower the SOFC operating te
mperature. This paper will address the issues concerning the development of
new materials that can operate at lower temperatures. Many of these issues
have been or are being addressed in the research performed at Argonne Nati
onal Laboratory, and some recent results will be discussed. (C) 2001 Kluwer
Academic Publishers.