The effect of an ultra-thin zirconia blocking layer on the performance of a 1-μm-thick gadolinia-doped ceria electrolyte solid-oxide fuel cell

Ultra-thin (less than 200 nm) yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) blocking layers are employed at the anode side of a 1-μm-thick gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC) thin-film electrolyte by pulsed laser deposition. Their effects on a GDC thin-film electrolyte solid-oxide fuel cell (TF-SOFC) are presented. Without blocking layers, the open cell voltage (OCV) of the GDC TF-SOFC is about 0.6 V. By inserting the blocking layer, the OCV increases to over 1 V. As a result, the maximum power density of the TF-SOFC increases from 377 mW cm−2 to over 1 W cm−2 at 600 °C. The present study demonstrates the possibility of obtaining the critical performance at a low temperature regime using thin-film GDC electrolytes.

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► We report the thinnest functioning ultra-thin YSZ and 1 μm-thick GDC bi-layers.
► Both a high OCV (1.1 V) and a high power output (1.1 W cm−2) at 600 °C are secured.
► The effective YSZ thickness is dependent on the surface condition of the anode.