High-performance thin film solid oxide fuel cells with scandia-stabilized zirconia (ScSZ) thin film electrolyte

A high-performance thin film solid oxide fuel cell (TF-SOFC) was fabricated using a scandia-stabilized zirconia (ScSZ) thin film electrolyte deposited on an anodized aluminum oxide supporting structure. The crystallinity and ionic conductivity were evaluated of the ScSZ film that was deposited by sputtering at room temperature. No phase transformation of ScSZ film was observed during heating to the TF-SOFC operation temperature of 500 °C. The oxygen ion conductivity of the ScSZ film was determined to be 0.00024 S/cm at 500 °C on polycrystalline Al2O3. The maximum power density of the TF-SOFC including the 280 nm thick ScSZ thin film electrolyte was measured to be 227 mW/cm2 at 500 °C.