Preparation of thin-film solid electrolytes for fuel-cell application

Technical Report · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:7000047

Yamazaki, Y; Namikawa, T

The purpose of the study is to fabricate fuel cells with thin-film solid electrolyte. The electrolyte is 5 micrometers thick zirconia (ZrO/sub 2/) film which is partially stabilized by yttria (Y/sub 2/O/sub 3/). The film is prepared by oxidizing composite films made of evaporated zirconium and yttrium layers. The electrolyte film is sandwiched between a 10 micrometers porous-nickel negative electrode and porous-platinum positive electrode. The zirconium and yttrium layers were prepared by vacuum evaportation on a nickel substrate using an electron gun. The film was oxidized at 900/sup 0/C in air for 1 h. The total thickness of the cell is only 50 micrometers. Various fuel-cell characteristics were measured on the film cell. The tests were carried out with hydrogen as fuel gas and air as oxidizing gas. The maximum open-circuit voltage, the maximum current density and the maximum power density were 700 mV, 23mA/sq cm, and 4.3mW/sq cm, respectively. The most-suitable temperature for the cell operation is estimated to be 600/sup 0/C. Heat cycles between room temperature and operating temperature (650/sup 0/C) caused no apparent damage to the thin-film cell.

• Research Organization: Asahi Glass Foundation for Industrial Technology, Tokyo (Japan)
• OSTI ID: 7000047
• Report Number(s): PB-86-233418/XAB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
300503* -- Fuel Cells-- Materials
Components
& Auxiliaries
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL PREPARATION
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS
ELECTROLYTES
FILMS
FUEL CELLS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PERFORMANCE
SOLID ELECTROLYTES
SYNTHESIS
THIN FILMS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
YTTRIUM COMPOUNDS
YTTRIUM OXIDES
ZIRCONIUM COMPOUNDS
ZIRCONIUM OXIDES