Fabrication, Performance, and Model for Proton Conductive Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

Ba(Ce0.8Y0.2)O3-delta anode-supported proton conductive solid oxide fuel cells (H-SOFC) were fabricated and tested under different H-2 and O-2 partial pressures and temperatures. An electrochemical model developed from Boltzmann statistics was derived to study the V(i) of the H-SOFC and proton conductive solid oxide electrolyzer (H-SOEC). Our model has successfully fit the V(i) curves to our variety of H-2/O-2 partial pressure expermental data with only one adjustable parameter. By using the model, the parametric analyses suggest the major possible and easiest way to improve the already good performance of the H-SOFC is reducing its electrolyte thickness. Other than that, the performance of H-SOFC is mostly restricted by the attempt current density c, which means the cathode of the H-SOFC limits the performance of the whole cell. The H-SOFC performance can be enhanced by carefully engineering its cathode to increase its triple phase boundaries or finding a cathode material that enables more O-2 molecules to be adsorbed and dissociate into available O atoms on the cathode surface. (C) 2011 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/1.3596361] All rights reserved.