Jihwan An

Obtaining high power density at low operating temperatures has been an ongoing challenge in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), which are efficient engines to generate electrical energy from fuels. Here we report successful demonstration of a thin-film three-dimensional (3-D) SOFC architecture achieving a peak power density of 1.3 W/cm(2) obtained at 450 °C. This is made possible by nanostructuring of the ultrathin (60 nm) electrolyte interposed with a nanogranular catalytic interlayer at the cathode

This study presents atomic scale characterization of grain boundary defect structure in a functional oxide with implications for a wide range of electrochemical and electronic behavior. Indeed, grain boundary engineering can alter transport and kinetic properties by several orders of magnitude. Here we report experimental observation and determination of oxide-ion vacancy concentration near the Σ13 (510)/[001] symmetric tilt grain-boundary of YSZ bicrystal using aberration-corrected TEM operated

Obtaining a catalyst with high activity and thermal stability is essential for high-performance energy conversion devices operating at an elevated temperature. Herein, the design and fabrication of a heterogeneous catalyst with an ultrathin CeO₂ overlayer via atomic layer deposition (ALD) on Pt electrodes for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (LT-SOFCs) is reported. The cell with a CeO₂-overcoated (five ALD cycles) Pt cathode shows lower activation resistance by 50% af

The AAO-supported thin-film SOFC with a sputtered-SDC/ALD–YSZ/sputtered-SDC sandwich electrolyte shows a high maximum power density of 562 mW cm⁻² at 450 °C.

Abstract Low‐temperature solid oxide fuel cells (LT‐SOFCs, operating temperature≤600 °C) are advantageous in potential applicability, affordability, and durability compared to conventional SOFCs (operating temperature: 800–1000 °C). Direct operation of LT‐SOFCs on liquid alcohol fuels can further improve their portability as well as accessibility to the fuel. In this review, we overview the results of LT‐SOFCs directly fueled by liquid alcohols that operate at 600 °C and below. Fundamentals rega

Because noble metal catalysts (e.g. Pt) are one of the main contributors to low-temperature (<500 °C) fuel cell costs, significant efforts have been made to lower the noble metal loading in constructing fuel cell electrodes. In this work, ultra-thin (∼10 nm) platinum (Pt) cathode/catalyst layers were patterned by atomic layer deposition (ALD) and tested as catalytic electrodes (cathode) for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells. We found that 180 cycles or approximately 10 nm of ALD Pt, with a

High-k, low leakage thin films are crucial components for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) capacitors with high storage density and a long storage lifetime. In this work, we demonstrate a method to increase the dielectric constant and decrease the leakage current density of atomic layer deposited BaTiO3 thin films at low process temperature (250 °C) using postdeposition remote oxygen plasma treatment. The dielectric constant increased from 51 (as-deposited) to 122 (plasma-treated), and the le

Abstract Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are promising candidates for next-generation energy conversion devices, and much effort has been made to lower their operating temperature for wider applicability. Recently, atomic layer deposition (ALD), a novel variant of chemical vapor deposition, has demonstrated interesting research opportunities for SOFCs due to its unique features such as conformality and precise thickness/doping controllability. Individual components of SOFCs, namely the electrolyt

Nickel and ruthenium bimetallic catalysts were heterogeneously synthesized via atomic layer deposition (ALD) for use as the anode of direct methanol solid oxide fuel cells (DMSOFCs) operating in a low-temperature range. The presence of highly dispersed ALD Ru islands over a porous Ni mesh was confirmed, and the Ni/ALD Ru anode microstructure was observed. Fuel cell tests were conducted using Ni-only and Ni/ALD Ru anodes with approximately 350 μm thick gadolinium-doped ceria electrolytes and plat