The climate and strategic goals of the European Union require a gradual yet decisive
transition away from non-renewable energy sources. Existing power units should be
replaced with more efficient and environmentally friendly alternatives. Thermal
engines, for example internal combustion engines, contribute a significant amount of
nitrogen oxides and particulate matter to the environment in addition to carbon dioxide.
We should convert chemical energy into electrical energy in an ecologically
indisputable manner and use it with high efficiency to power the vehicles. By
transporting energy carriers through pipelines to the point of use, where chemical
energy is converted into electrical energy, we avoid overloading the electrical grid and
enable rapid fuel replenishment.
Fuel cells enable the effective conversion of chemical energy into electrical energy.
Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) or high-temperature fuel cells have the highest efficiency
among versatile cell designs, and their operation is the least sensitive to fuel quality.
Solid oxide fuel cells most frequently consist of a composite of ceramic layers for the
anode, solid electrolyte, and cathode, along with a metal conductor that connects the
individual layers. At the cathode, oxygen is reduced to oxide anions, which travel
through the solid electrolyte to the anode, where a reaction occurs between the oxide
anions and hydrogen. Typically, the thicknesses of the anode, solid electrolyte, and
cathode layers are around 10 micrometers, and the metal layers are about millimeter
thick.
I prepared fuel cells with a solid electrolyte in the form of multilayer structures. The
anode was formed by tape-casting the suspension of a powder mixture of nickel oxide
and zirconium oxide stabilized with yttrium oxide (YSZ) into sheets and laminating
them to the desired thickness. The remaining elements of the fuel cell, the YSZ solid
electrolyte, the lanthanum strontium cobaltite ferrite cathode and the protective layer
of cerium oxide doped with gadolinium oxide were screen printed. The multilayer
structure was sintered at a temperature of 1200 °C in air. The scanning electron
microscopy analysis revealed that there were no noticeable interactions between
individual layers or the appearance of cracks between individual layers.
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