Material issues for fuel cell applications

Since the successful demonstration of alkaline fuel cell technology by Bacon in the 1950s fuel cells – in one guise or another – have held forth the promise of mass market commercialisation. To date this promise has yet to materialise despite the fact that many products are currently undergoing field evaluation and testing. The primary barrier that fuel cell technology must overcome relates to cost but at its heart this is a materials issue. The problems relate to electrolyte and catalyst performance and cost, chemical stability of the cell interconnect and the long-term reliability of fuel and oxidant seals. In this paper, the detailed issues facing the different types of fuel cells will be summarised and an indepth case study on Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) will be presented.