High performance solid-oxide fuel cell: Opening windows to low temperature application

A key hindrance of operating solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) at low temperature is the relatively high cell resistance resulting in low power output density. In this work, we report an SOFC design based on an anode-supported cell (ASC) with thin film Yttria stabilized zirconia electrolyte (YSZ), capable of high power output densities of 1050 mW cm−2 using H2 as fuel, at an operating temperature of 873 K. Such high cell performances have been realized by applying three optimization steps: (1) using La0.6Sr0.4CoO3−δ-perovskite (LSC) as high performing cathode material at low temperature; (2) integration of an optimized Ce0.8Gd0.2O1.9 (CGO) inter-diffusion barrier layer and (3) optimization of the microstructure of the anode substrate by means of increasing the substrate porosity.