Designing the Solid Oxide Electrochemical Cell for Superior Thermal Shock Resistance

Professor Hong Jong-seop of Yonsei University, Professor Joo Jong-hoon of GIST, and Dr. Shin Tae-ho of the Korea Institute of Ceramic Engineering and Technology collaborated to develop a solid oxide fuel cell technology that operates at temperatures exceeding 900°C within three seconds. This newly developed technology is expected to be utilized in power generation devices that require rapid activation, such as auxiliary power sources for mobile devices like drones. Solid oxide fuel cells, made from ceramic materials, have the disadvantage of being vulnerable to thermal shock due to their low thermal conductivity and high elastic modulus. To address this, the team designed a fuel cell with high resistance to thermal shock by simulating and optimizing the electrolyte material and thickness characteristics of the solid oxide fuel cell, based on an understanding of thermal stress. The developed solid oxide fuel cell operated without cracking or breaking, even at a rapid heating rate that reached over 900°C within three seconds. Furthermore, it demonstrated high stability over more than 100 thermal shock cycles and was confirmed to operate even in extreme conditions where it reached 1000°C in under a second. This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea's Original Research and Development Program, the Future Hydrogen Innovation Technology Development Project, and the Leading Research Center Program. It was published online in the prestigious international journal ACS Energy Letters (IF: 18) on July 24, 2024.

The link: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsenergylett.4c01523
              https://science.ytn.co.kr/program/view.php?mcd=0082&key=202408081610302635