Micro-solid Oxide Fuel Cells with Yttria-stabilized Zirconia and Nanoporous Pt Electrodes

摘要

The emergence of portable electronic devices such as laptops, electronic books, and mobile phones has prompted a flurry of potential for the next generation of devices. In particular, a miniaturized fuel cell is a promising power source for portable electronics. Recent studies have mainly investigated three types of micro-sized fuel cells: a micro-polymer electrolyte/proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), a micro-direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), and a micro-solid oxide fuel cell (μSOFC). Both the PEMFC and DMFC exhibit fuel cell performance with a power density of 130 (195) mWcm~(-2) and 100 mWcm~(-2) in air (in ambient oxygen), respectively, but the PEMFC is disadvantageous in that one must safely treat explosive hydrogen and oxygen gases. In contrast, the μSOFC may provide a safe way to use syngas from hydrocarbon fuel, where operation temperatures may range between 300 °C and 600 °C.