Post-annealing of thin-film yttria stabilized zirconia electrolytes for anode-supported low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells

Influence of Deposition Modes and Thermal Annealing on Residual Stresses in Magnetron-Sputtered YSZ Membranes

Thin-film electrolyte made of 8-mol% yttria stabilized zirconia (8YSZ) for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) was fabricated on anode substrates using reactive magnetron sputtering of Zr-Y targets in a mixture of Ar and O2 gases. The deposition of 4−6 µm thin-film electrolyte was in the transition or oxide modes differing by the oxygen concentration in the sputtering atmosphere. The half-cell bending of the anode-supported SOFCs was measured to determine the residual stresses in the electrolyte films after the deposition and thermal annealing in air. The dependences were studied between the deposition modes, residual stresses in the films, and the SOFC performance. At 800 °C, the maximum power density of SOFCs ranged between 0.58 and 1.2 W/cm2 depending on the electrolyte deposition mode. Scanning electron microscopy was carried out to investigate the surface morphology and structure of the YSZ electrolyte films after thermal annealing. Additionally, an X-ray diffraction analysis of the YSZ electrolyte films was conducted for the synchrotron radiation beam during thermal annealing at different temperatures up to 1300 °C. It was found that certain deposition modes provide the formation of the YSZ electrolyte films with acceptable residual stresses (<1 GPa) at room temperature, including films deposited on large area anodes (100 × 100 mm2).

Ultrathin Atomic Layer-Deposited CeO2 Overlayer for High-Performance Fuel Cell Electrodes

Obtaining a catalyst with high activity and thermal stability is essential for high-performance energy conversion devices operating at an elevated temperature. Herein, the design and fabrication of a heterogeneous catalyst with an ultrathin CeO₂ overlayer via atomic layer deposition (ALD) on Pt electrodes for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (LT-SOFCs) is reported. The cell with a CeO₂-overcoated (five ALD cycles) Pt cathode shows lower activation resistance by 50% after a 10 h operation and higher thermal stability by a factor of 2 compared with the cell with a Pt-only cathode, which is known to be the best single catalyst at 450 °C. Eventually, a thin-film SOFC with a highly active and stable CeO₂-overcoated cathode based on an anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) substrate demonstrates a high peak power density of 800 mW cm^-2 at 500 °C, which is the highest performance ever reported for an AAO-based SOFC at this temperature.

Rapid, cool sintering of wet processed yttria-stabilized zirconia ceramic electrolyte thin films

Here we report a photonic annealing process for yttria-stabilized zirconia films, which are one of the most well-known solid-state electrolytes for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). Precursor films were coated using a wet-chemical method with a simple metal-organic precursor solution and directly annealed at standard pressure and temperature by two cycles of xenon flash lamp irradiation. The residual organics were almost completely decomposed in the first pre-annealing step, and the fluorite crystalline phases and good ionic conductivity were developed during the second annealing step. These films showed properties comparable to those of thermally annealed films. This process is much faster than conventional annealing processes (e.g. halogen furnaces); a few seconds compared to tens of hours, respectively. The significance of this work includes the treatment of solid-state electrolyte oxides for SOFCs and the demonstration of the feasibility of other oxide components for solid-state energy devices.