Nanotubular array solid oxide fuel cell

This report presents a demonstration and characterization of a nanotubular array of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) made of one-end-closed hollow tube Ni/yttria-stabilized zirconia/Pt membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs). The tubular MEAs are nominally ∼5 μm long and have <500 nm outside diameter with total MEA thickness of nearly 50 nm. Open circuit voltages up to 660 mV (vs air) and power densities up to 1.3 μW cm^-2 were measured at 550 C using H₂ as fuel. The paper also introduces a fabrication methodology primarily based on a template process involving atomic layer deposition and electrodeposition for building the nanotubular MEA architecture as an important step toward achieving high surface area ultrathin SOFCs operating in the intermediate to low-temperature regime. A fabricated nanotubular SOFC theoretically attains a 20-fold increase in the effective surface, while projections indicate the possibility of achieving up to 40-fold.