Materials and microstructures for micro-solid oxide fuel cells

Author, Institution: Jolita Sakaliūnienė, Kaunas University of Technology

Science Area, Field of Science: Technological Sciences, Materials Engineering – 08T

Scientific supervisor: Prof. Dr. Habil. Sigitas Tamulevičius (Kaunas University of Technology, Technological Sciences, Materials Engineering – 08T).

Scientific Advisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Brigita Abakevičienė (Kaunas University of Technology, Technological Sciences, Materials Engineering – 08T) from 2013.

Dissertation Defence Board of Materials Engineering Science Field:
Prof. Dr. Habil. Arvaidas Galdikas (Kaunas University of Technology, Technological Sciences, Materials Engineering – 08T) – chairperson,
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mindaugas Andrulevičius (Kaunas University of Technology, Technological Sciences, Materials Engineering – 08T),
Prof. Dr. Piotr Jasinski (Gdansk University of Technology, Technological Sciences, Materials Engineering – 08T),
Dr. Šarūnas Meškinis (Kaunas University of Technology, Technological Sciences, Materials Engineering – 08T),
Dr. Loreta Tamašauskaitė-Tamašiūnaitė (Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Physical Sciences, Chemistry– 03P).

The doctoral dissertation is available at the library of Kaunas University of Technology (K. Donelaičio g. 20,Kaunas)

Annotation:
The demand for mobile energy is constantly growing in our society. Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is one of promising and environmentally friendly electrochemical energy conversion devices. Lately, the development of miniaturized SOFC, called micro-solid oxide fuel cells (µ-SOFC), is of potential interest.
Usually, µ-SOFC is developed by adopting microfabrication, or microelectromechanical system fabrication techniques. Despite the advantages of µ-SOFC, the commercialization of the technology and practical application of µ-SOFC systems has not fully succeeded.
The aim of this work is to develop a manufacturing process for the multi-layered membrane of micro-solid oxide fuel cell with respect to the synthesis of metal oxide materials, formation of thin films, and application of microelectromechanical system processing. Synthesis of electrolyte ceramics with the required properties was carried out applying co-precipitation synthesis and impregnation method. In the development of µ-SOFC systems, high quality, ionic conductivity, and dense electrolyte thin films are required, therefore electron beam evaporation technique was used. The electrodes (positive/negative) were formed using magnetron sputtering. Microstructure, electrical properties, chemical composition behaviour of materials, and thin films were comprehensively studied in this dissertation. An original technological route for manufacturing the µ-SOFC multi-layered membrane structure was proposed as well. It was demonstrated that the formation of three-layered µ-SOFC structure with required physical properties is possible through controlling deposition conditions of thin films and applying additional thermal treatment at 600°C temperature.