A nanoscale perspective on solid oxide and semiconductor membrane fuel cells: materials and technology

Bin Zhu,Jung-Sik Kim,Baoyuan Wang,Chen Xia,Peter Lund,Tao Li,Youquan Mi

doi:10.20517/energymater.2021.03

Bin Zhu, Jung-Sik Kim + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.20517/energymater.2021.03

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Abstract

Fuel cells could play an important role in the ongoing energy transition by providing clean and efficient energy conversion. Although the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology is a potential alternative for large-scale applications, its commercialization is limited by its electrolyte materials and has not yet been realized. Progress on new functional semiconductor-ionic materials (SIMs) and the fundamentals of SOFCs will provide new paths for their research and development. Herein, we discuss the nanoscale electrochemistry phenomena of SIMs in the context of new concepts for advanced SOFCs. A traditional SOFC consists of a three-layer anode/electrolyte/cathode structure, where the physically separated electrolyte layer is indispensable for ion transport to support the redox reaction and prevent the occurrence of short circuiting. A novel nano-SOFC concept is proposed to replace the traditional electrolyte by a SIM or semiconductor membrane and it can deliver superior performance, even at a lower temperature range (< 500 °C). The scientific basis and prospects of this new technological approach are presented and discussed.

Highlights

Climate change mitigation will require a step change in the introduction of clean and efficient energy production in the coming decades
Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) deliver the highest efficiency when converting chemical energy to electricity among other types of fuel cells, but their wider use is still hampered by degradation and material reliability issues due to the relatively high operating temperatures (800-1000 °C)
Bulk p-n heterojunctions are associated with the ionic conductor that acts like an electrolyte layer to facilitate the charge transfer processes for ions (H+ and O2-) along with the electrons and holes among the involved p- and ntype and ionic particles to realize the nano-redox SOFC built on semiconductor-ionic materials (SIMs) materials

Summary

Introduction

Climate change mitigation will require a step change in the introduction of clean and efficient energy production in the coming decades. This new type of device does not have a physically separated electrolyte layer and is constructed using a semiconductor membrane (SM) or SIM to realize the fuel cell HOR and ORR in a single-layer design, as shown, through a nano-redox mechanism[19,20].

Results

Conclusion