Improved Reversibility of Thin-Film Solid Oxide Cells at 500 °C by Tailoring Sputtering Processes for Depositing Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia Electrolyte.

The present study investigates the impact of sputtering configurations on the microstructure and crystallinity of thin-film yttria-stabilized zirconia electrolytes for anodized aluminum oxide-supported all-sputtered thin-film reversible solid oxide cells. Employing various sputtering parameters, such as target-substrate distance and substrate rotation speed, the present study reveals distinct surface characteristics and crystalline structures of thin-film yttria-stabilized zirconia. The microstructure analysis includes scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy examinations, uncovering the influence of the process parameters on the surface morphology, roughness, and grain size.

Nanocrystal Engineering of Thin-Film Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia Electrolytes for Low-Temperature Solid-Oxide Fuel Cells.

To overcome significantly sluggish oxygen-ion conduction in the electrolytes of low-temperature solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), numerous researchers have devoted considerable effort to fabricating the electrolytes as thin as possible. However, thickness is not the only factor that affects the electrolyte performance; roughness, grain size, and internal film stress also play a role. In this study, yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) was deposited via a reactive sputtering process to fabricate high-performance thin-film electrolytes.

Surface Roughening of Electrolyte Membrane for Pt- and Ru-Sputtered Passive Direct Methanol Fuel Cells.

Platinum (Pt) and ruthenium (Ru) were sputtered on an electrolyte membrane and it was used as a membrane-electrode assembly for passive direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) operating with high concentration methanol solution (4 M). Thick (Pt of 300 nm and Ru of 150 nm) and thin (Pt of 150 nm and Ru of 75 nm) sputtered catalysts were prepared and their performance was first evaluated to find out the best sputtering conditions showing higher performance. Subsequently, four electrolyte membranes with different surface roughness were prepared to investigate its influence on the performance.

Optimization of ScSZ/GDC bilayer thin film electrolyte for anodic aluminum oxide supported low temperature solid oxide fuel cells.

Due to the poor chemical stability of CeO-based materials, doped CeO electrolytes are generally used as a stabilized ZrO protection layer/doped CeO electrolyte bilayer structure. Since the ionic conductivity of stabilized ZrO materials is lower than that of doped CeO materials, the thickness of the ZrO protective layer needs to be optimized. Thus, in this study, nano-porous anodic aluminum oxide template based scandia stabilized zirconia (ScSZ)/gadolinia doped ceria (GDC) bilayer electrolyte low temperature solid oxide fuel cells (LT-SOFCs) are successfully fabricated and investigated.

PEALD YSZ-based bilayer electrolyte for thin film-solid oxide fuel cells.

Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) thin film electrolyte deposited by plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) was investigated. PEALD YSZ-based bi-layered thin film electrolyte was employed for thin film solid oxide fuel cells on nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide substrates, whose electrochemical performance was compared to the cell with sputtered YSZ-based electrolyte. The cell with PEALD YSZ electrolyte showed higher open circuit voltage (OCV) of 1.

Intermediate-Temperature Solid-Oxide Fuel Cells with a Gadolinium-Doped Ceria Anodic Functional Layer Deposited via Radio-Frequency Sputtering.

We investigated the effects of the insertion of a gadolinium-doped ceria (GDC) anodic functional layer (AFL) on the electrochemical performance of intermediate-temperature solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). Fully stabilized yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) was used as an oxygen-ion-conducting and support material. Nickel-Samaria-doped ceriathin film was used as an anode material, while screen-printed lanthanum strontium magnetite served as a cathode material.

Surface engineering of nanoporous substrate for solid oxide fuel cells with atomic layer-deposited electrolyte.

Solid oxide fuel cells with atomic layer-deposited thin film electrolytes supported on anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) are electrochemically characterized with varying thickness of bottom electrode catalyst (BEC); BECs which are 0.5 and 4 times thicker than the size of AAO pores are tested. The thicker BEC ensures far more active mass transport on the BEC side and resultantly the thicker BEC cell generates ≈11 times higher peak power density than the thinner BEC cell at 500 °C.

Plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition of nanoscale yttria-stabilized zirconia electrolyte for solid oxide fuel cells with porous substrate.

Nanoscale yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte film was deposited by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) on a porous anodic aluminum oxide supporting substrate for solid oxide fuel cells. The minimum thickness of PEALD-YSZ electrolyte required for a consistently high open circuit voltage of 1.17 V at 500 °C is 70 nm, which is much thinner than the reported thickness of 180 nm using nonplasmatic ALD and is also the thinnest attainable value reported in the literatures on a porous supporting substrate.