Ceramics in solid oxide fuel cells

During the past 18 months developments in ceramics for solid oxide fuel cells have resulted in considerable lowering of the operating temperature of such devices from 1000°C to below 800°C without loss of performance. This has been achieved by the introduction of alternative materials for the cell components with improved conductivity characteristics or by reducing the thickness of critical cell components. In addition, optimisation of electrode microstructures has resulted in reduced polarisation losses over the cell interfaces, allowing better electrochemical performance.