Fuel cells are uniquely capable of overcoming combustion efficiency limitations (e.g., the Carnot cycle). However, the linking of fuel cells (an energy conversion device) and hydrogen (an energy carrier) has emphasized investment in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells as part of a larger hydrogen economy and thus relegated fuel cells to a future technology. In contrast, solid oxide fuel cells are capable of operating on conventional fuels (as well as hydrogen) today. The main issue for solid oxide fuel cells is high operating temperature (about 800°C) and the resulting materials and cost limitations and operating complexities (e.g., thermal cycling). Recent solid oxide fuel cells results have demonstrated extremely high power densities of about 2 watts per square centimeter at 650°C along with flexible fueling, thus enabling higher efficiency within the current fuel infrastructure. Newly developed, high-conductivity electrolytes and nanostructured electrode designs provide a path for further performance improvement at much lower temperatures, down to ~350°C, thus providing opportunity to transform the way we convert and store energy.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/334/6058/935.full.pdf

Lowering the Temperature of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have the promise to improve energy efficiency and to provide society with a clean energy producing technology. The high temperature of operation (500−1000 °C) enables the solid oxide fuel cell to operate with existing fossil fuels and to be efficiently coupled with turbines to give very high efficiency conversion of fuels to electricity. Solid oxide fuel cells are complex electrochemical devices that contain three basic components, a porous anode, an electrolyte membrane, and a porous cathode. In this short review, a survey of the types and properties of materials that have been considered for each of these components is presented with an emphasis on the requirements for operation at intermediate temperature (500−800 °C). Some directions for future research are discussed.

Materials for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Progress in material selection for solid oxide fuel cell technology: A review

http://chglib.icp.ac.ru/subjex/2012/pdf05/JPowSources-2010-195(11)3431.pdf

Alkaline direct alcohol fuel cells

This critical review presents an overview of the various classes of oxide materials exhibiting fast oxide-ion or proton conductivity for use as solid electrolytes in clean energy applications such as solid oxide fuel cells. Emphasis is placed on the relationship between structural and mechanistic features of the crystalline materials and their ion conduction properties. After describing well-established classes such as fluorite- and perovskite-based oxides, new materials and structure-types are presented. These include a variety of molybdate, gallate, apatite silicate/germanate and niobate systems, many of which contain flexible structural networks, and exhibit different defect properties and transport mechanisms to the conventional materials. It is concluded that the rich chemistry of these important systems provides diverse possibilities for developing superior ionic conductors for use as solid electrolytes in fuel cells and related applications. In most cases, a greater atomic-level understanding of the structures, defects and conduction mechanisms is achieved through a combination of experimental and computational techniques (217 references).

Oxide-ion and proton conducting electrolyte materials for clean energy applications: structural and mechanistic features

Over the past decade, many efforts have been made to develop new materials exhibiting high oxide ion mobility at low temperature. In addition to the improvements of existing materials, new classes of conductors in which the structure have been shown to play an important role has been proposed. These materials are reviewed according to their structure type. Their performances and limitations are presented and discussed.

G. Mairesse

Papers

Recent Material Developments in Fast Oxide Ion Conductors

The bimevox series: A new family of high performances oxide ion conductors

Phase transitions and ionic conductivity in Bi4V2O11 an oxide with a layered structure

Electrochemical characterization of BIMEVOX oxide-ion conductors

Solid phase synthesis and characterization of new BIMEVOX series: Bi4V2−xMxO11 (M=Sbv, Nbv)