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Energy storage in ultrathin solid oxide fuel cells.
Quentin Van Overmeere1, Kian Kerman, Shriram Ramanathan
1Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, United States. vanovermeere@seas.harvard.edu
Nano Letters
|June 21, 2012
Summary
Nanostructured vanadium oxide anodes enable thin film solid oxide fuel cells to maintain power longer after fuel interruption. This hydrogen fuel cell advancement offers potential for miniaturized mobile power sources.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Electrochemistry
- Energy Storage
Background:
- Hydrogen fuel cells are crucial for clean energy, but their power output drops to zero upon fuel interruption.
- Existing fuel cell technologies lack inherent charge storage capabilities, limiting their performance during transient fuel supply disruptions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate thin film solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with nanostructured vanadium oxide anodes for improved power retention during fuel interruptions.
- To investigate the charge storage mechanisms in these novel SOFCs.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of thin film solid oxide fuel cells utilizing nanostructured vanadium oxide as the anode material.
- Comparative performance testing against reference cells with porous platinum anodes under interrupted hydrogen fuel supply.
- Quantitative investigation of charge storage mechanisms, including anode oxidation, hydrogen storage, and electrode oxygen concentration.
Main Results:
- The developed vanadium oxide anode SOFCs demonstrated significantly longer power generation duration compared to platinum anode SOFCs when the fuel supply was interrupted.
- Identified key contributions to charge storage, including vanadium oxide oxidation, hydrogen storage capacity, and varying oxygen concentrations at the electrodes.
- Established the feasibility of charge storage within fuel cells for short durations.
Conclusions:
- Nanostructured vanadium oxide anodes enhance the resilience of thin film solid oxide fuel cells to fuel supply interruptions by enabling charge storage.
- The findings suggest that fuel cells with integrated charge storage capabilities are promising for the ultraminiaturization of mobile power sources.
- Further research into optimizing charge storage mechanisms could lead to more robust and compact fuel cell designs for portable applications.
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