10 years of materials research for solid oxide fuel cells at forschungszentrum j ¨ ulich

In 1995, a fuel cell program was established at Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ) to consolidate various existing activities in generic fuel cell research. This review focuses on the advancements in materials development and component manufacturing of anode-supported cells (ASC). It evaluates various materials and fabrication processes for anode substrates, anodes, electrolytes, and cathodes, highlighting the progress in quality and performance of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). A significant achievement reported is the enhancement of the electrochemical performance of ASC, where power density improved from approximately 0.15 W/cm² at 800°C to 1.2 W/cm², driven by optimization of processing and microstructure. Notably, new perovskite materials like lanthanum cobaltite/ferrite have achieved power densities ranging from 1.4 to 1.7 W/cm². In addition to extensive development efforts on ASC, collaborations with industrial partners for planar and tubular electrolyte-supported cell systems were also undertaken. The review also addresses less successful endeavors, such as the attempts to use lanthanum gallates as electrolyte materials and low-cost NiO/Al2O3 substrates, which exhibited dimensional instability in fuel gas atmospheres.