Boosting intermediate temperature performance of solid oxide fuel cells via a tri‐layer ceria–zirconia–ceria electrolyte

Abstract Using cost‐effective fabrication methods to manufacture a high‐performance solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is helpful to enhance the commercial viability. Here, we report an anode‐supported SOFC with a three‐layer Gd 0.1 Ce 0.9 O 1.95 (gadolinia‐doped‐ceria [GDC])/Y 0.148 Zr 0.852 O 1.926 (8YSZ)/GDC electrolyte system. The first dense GDC electrolyte is fabricated by co‐sintering a thin, screen‐printed GDC layer with the anode support (NiO–8YSZ substrate and NiO–GDC anode) at 1400°C for 5 h. Subsequently, two electrolyte layers are deposited via physical vapor deposition. The total electrolyte thickness is less than 5 μm in an area of 5 × 5 cm 2 , enabling an area‐specific ohmic resistance as low as 0.125 Ω cm − 2 at 500°C (under open circuit voltage), and contributing to a power density as high as 1.2 W cm − 2 at 650°C (at an operating cell voltage of 0.7 V, using humidified [10 vol.% H 2 O] H 2 as fuel and air as oxidant). This work provides an effective strategy and shows the great potential of using GDC as an electrolyte for high‐performance SOFC at intermediate temperature.