Electrochemical Performance of a Novel Proton Conducting Electrolyte-Based IT-SOFC

Abstract

Fuel cells are happened to be one of the best solutions for future energy requirement. Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) has many advantages including fuel flexibility, long time stability, high efficiency, low emissions and relatively low cost. One of the major disadvantages of SOFC is related to its high operating temperature (800-950 °C). Proton conducting electrolytes show good performance at the intermediate temperature range (400-700 °C). This leads to the study of a novel proton conducting electrolyte, Ba0.9Sr0.1Ce0.5Zr0.35Y0.1Sm0.05O3- d (BSCZYSm), based SOFC to observe the electrochemical performance and microstructure changes. Electrochemical impedance measurements of electrolyte material show the protonic conduction. A fuel cell of NiO/NiO-BSCZYSm|BSCZYSm|Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-δ (BSCF) was prepared and tested in H2 as fuel in the anode side and air as oxidant in the cathode side. The cell shows a peak power density of 272 mW/cm2 with an open circuit voltage of 0.9282 V at 700 °C. This cell performance might be increased through microstructural improvements of the constituting materials.