Intermediate Temperature Operation of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Using Gadolinia Doped Ceria Electrolyte Film

Abstract

Performance of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) using gadolinia doped ceria (GDC) electrolyte film was studied on the power generation property at intermediate operating temperatures between 400 and 600℃. The crystal structure of GDC film of 3 µm thickness, which was grown by the helicon wave excited plasma sputtering, indicated a columnar structure with many grain boundaries. The open circuit voltage (OCV) of single cell showed the maximum value at operating temperature of 500℃, and the observed OCV of the series-connected two cells was 1075 mV. However, the current of series-connected cells was reduced to very small values because of the overvoltage due to mainly the ohmic resistance of GDC electrolyte and the reaction resistance of electrodes.