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Researchers at KIST-Seoul University put a three-dimensional micro-dimensional structure on a solid oxide fuel cell

By August 7, 2020 4   min read  (676 words)

August 7, 2020 |

KIST 3 dimensional production of SOFC
  • Solid oxide fuel cell production through ceramic micro-patterning and thin-film three-dimensional process
  • A breakthrough in commercialization and new technology that satisfies performance, stability, and mass productivity at the same time

Dr. Hyung-Chul Kim of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, Director Seok-Jin Yoon) Energy Materials Research Team teamed up with Professor Choi Man-Su of Seoul National University (Seoul National University, President Oh Se-Jeong) to have a high-performance solid oxide fuel cell with a three-dimensional structure ). This is gaining attention as a breakthrough performance that secures performance, stability, and mass production simultaneously.

Researchers have introduced innovative ceramic micro-patterning and thin-film-based three-dimensional process technology to improve performance by more than 50% compared to conventional planar structure fuel cells. This technology is expected to contribute significantly to accelerate the commercialization of solid oxide fuel cells, known as ceramic fuel cells, because it has structural improvement that is not limited to materials and excellent applicability to large areas.

A general solid oxide fuel cell operates at a high temperature of 750°C or higher and is used as an eco-friendly energy source for power generation. However, reliability and process cost problems due to high operating temperatures remained a major obstacle to the commercialization of this technology. In order to solve this , studies on low temperature lowering the operating temperature to less than 60 0℃ have been continued for decades, but still have not been able to secure high performance, high reliability and mass production at low temperatures.

The well-known three-dimensional structure in the form of an ideal electrochemical device is a concept that improves electrode reaction and ion transfer performance by implementing electrodes and electrolytes in a three-dimensional shape instead of a plane. It has been difficult to realize this concept in solid oxide fuel cells, where the main component is ceramic, a hard and brittle material.

The joint research team of KIST-Seoul National University developed a ceramic micropatterning process to fabricate a 3D cathode substrate by carving a micrometer-sized pyramid shape on a cathode substrate composed of a polymer-ceramic composite. In addition, through a subsequent process, a thin film process, the multi-layer solid oxide fuel cell having a three-dimensional solid structure was finally implemented by successfully patterning into a structure having multiple layers.

The solid oxide fuel cell implemented by the joint research team has increased the area of ​​the interface through a three-dimensional solid structure, increasing the ion transfer performance and decreasing the electrode reaction resistance, recording more than 50% higher performance than the flat structure solid oxide fuel cell. . In addition, the present technology secured an output of 13W or more based on an operating temperature of 500°C through a large area demonstration of 16 cm 2 or more. This output performance corresponds to the world’s highest performance among the low-temperature ceramic fuel cells reported so far, and it can be said to be a unique performance with little performance degradation even after long-term operation of 500 hours or more.

Professor Choi Man-soo of Seoul National University said, “This study has great significance in that the best researchers in Korea have collaborated to secure the original innovation technology for the next generation ceramic fuel cell through the global frontier project. It is the result of persistent effort.”

Dr. Hyung-Cheol Kim of KIST said, “This is the first study to satisfy all the evaluation indicators (performance, stability, large-area, mass-producibility) at the same time, although there have been attempts to micro-structure a low-temperature solid oxide fuel cell. ” The three-dimensional solid oxide fuel cell made of ceramic micro-patterning and thin-film process technology is an innovative result that goes beyond the technical limits for commercialization of the next-generation ceramic fuel cell,” he said.

This research was carried out as a major project of KIST, a global frontier multi-scale energy system research project of the Korea Research Foundation, and a creative convergence research project of the National Science and Technology Research Association with the support of the Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Choi Ki-young). & Environmental Science’ (IF: 33.250, top 0.199% in the JCR field).

 

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