Performance of Proton-conducting Ceramic-electrolyte Fuel Cell with BZCY40 electrolyte and BSCF5582 cathode

In the present research, Proton conducting Ceramic electrolyte Fuel Cell (PCFC) has been fabricated with BaZr0.4Ce0.45Y0.15O3−δ electrolyte, NiO-BaZr0.4Ce0.45Y0.15O3−δ as anode and Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3−δ as a cathode material. The effects of anodic and cathodic gas flow rates and partial pressures on PCFC performance are studied by varying the gas flow rates between 50 and 200 sccm while partial pressures between 0.25 and 1 atm at one electrode by keeping constant gas flow rate and partial pressure at another electrode. The different electrode processes occurring at the electrodes and electrode/electrolyte interfaces are analyzed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. It is observed that gas flow rate doesn't affect more on the fuel cell performance while increase in gas partial pressure changes the performance of PCFC. The variation in cathodic pO2 shows that the oxygen dissociation and charge transfer at cathode electrode are the major contributors toward overall electrode polarization resistance. A peak power density of ~0.80 W/cm−2 is achieved at 700 °C with 200 sccm of wet H2 and air. The stability of the PCFC is also studied under CO2 condition and it has shown stable performance without any degradation.