Grain-Controlled Gadolinia-Doped Ceria (GDC) Functional Layer for Interface Reaction Enhanced Low-Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Soonwook Hong; Hwichul Yang; Yonghyun Lim; Fritz B Prinz; Young-Beom Kim

doi:10.1021/acsami.9b13999

Grain-Controlled Gadolinia-Doped Ceria (GDC) Functional Layer for Interface Reaction Enhanced Low-Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2019 Nov 6;11(44):41338-41346. doi: 10.1021/acsami.9b13999. Epub 2019 Oct 28.

Authors

Soonwook Hong¹, Hwichul Yang², Yonghyun Lim², Fritz B Prinz¹, Young-Beom Kim^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering , Stanford University , Stanford California 94305 , United States.
² Department of Mechanical Convergence Engineering , Hanyang University , Seongdong-gu, 222 Wangsimni-ro , Seoul 133-791 , Korea.
³ Institute of Nanoscience and Technology , Hanyang University , Seongdong-gu, 222 Wangsimni-ro , Seoul 133-791 , Korea.

PMID: 31603644
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.9b13999

Abstract

In this Research Article, gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC), which is a highly catalyzed oxide ionic conductor, was explored to further improve oxygen surface reaction rates using a grain-controlled layer (GCL) concept. Typically, GDC materials have been used as a cathode functional layer by coating the GDC between the electrode and electrolyte to accelerate the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). To further improve the oxygen surface kinetics of the GDC cathodic layer, we modified the grain boundary density and crystallinity developed in the GDC layer by adjusting RF power conditions during the sputtering process. This approach revealed that engineered nanograins of GDC thin films directly affected ORR kinetics by catalyzing the oxygen surface reaction rate, significantly enhancing the fuel cell performance. Using this innovative concept, the fuel cells fabricated with a GDC GCL demonstrated a peak power density of 240 mW/cm² at 450 °C.

Keywords: gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC); grain-controlled layer (GCL); low-temperature solid oxide fuel cell; oxygen reduction reaction; thin-film electrolyte.