Solid oxide fuel cell with corrugated thin film electrolyte

A low temperature micro solid oxide fuel cell with corrugated electrolyte membrane was developed and tested. To increase the electrochemically active surface area, yttria-stabilized zirconia membranes with thickness of 70 nm were deposited onto prepatterned silicon substrates. Fuel cell performance of the corrugated electrolyte membranes released from silicon substrate showed an increase of power density relative to membranes with planar electrolytes. Maximum power densities of the corrugated fuel cells of 677 mW/cm2 and 861 mW/cm2 were obtained at 400 and 450 degrees C, respectively.