Mid-temperature solid oxide fuel cells with thin film ZrO₂: Y₂O₃ electrolyte

Data on the mid-temperature solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFC) with thin-film ZrO₂-Y₂O₃ (YSZ) electrolyte are shown. Such a fuel cell comprises a carrying Ni-YSZ anode, a YSZ electrolyte 3-5 μm thick formed by vacuum ion-plasma methods, and a LaSrMnO₃ cathode. It is shown that the use of a combined method of YSZ electrolyte deposition, which involves the magnetron deposition of a 0.5-1.5-μm thick sublayer and its pulse electron-beam processing allows a dense nanostructured electrolyte film to be formed and the SOFC working temperature to be lowered down as the result of a decrease in both the solid electrolyte Ohmic resistance and the Faradaic resistance to charge transfer. SOFC are studied by the methods of voltammentry and impedance spectroscopy. The maximum power density of the SOFC under study is 250 and 600 mW/cm^-2 at temperatures of 650 and 800°C, respectively.