Overview on Ceramic and Nanostructured Materials for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) Working at Different Temperatures

The article provides information on ceramic / nanostructured materials which are suitable for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) working between 500 to 1000 o C. However, low temperature solid oxide fuel cells LTSOFCs working at less than 600 o C are being developed now-a-days with suitable new materials and are globally explored as the "future energy conversion devices". The LTSOFCs device has emerged as a novel technology especially for stationary power generation, portable and transportation applications. Operating SOFC at low temperature (i.e. < 600 o C) with higher efficiency is a bigger challenge for the scientific community since in low temperature regions, the efficiency might be less and the components might have exhibited lower catalytic activity which may result in poor cell performance. Employing new and novel nanoscale ceramic materials and composites may improve the SOFC performance at low temperature ranges is most focused now-a-days. This review article focuses on the overview of various ceramic and nanostructured materials and components applicable for SOFC devices reported by different researchers across the globe. More importance is given for the nanostructured materials and components developed for LTSOFC technology so far.