New Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Comes Out

Japan Industrial Technology Research Institute recently announced that the researcher and his American counterpart developed a miniature solid oxide fuel cell. This fuel cell adds a special catalyst layer, which can greatly reduce the operating temperature of the battery.

The press release of the Institute of Industrial Technology said that the energy conversion efficiency of solid oxide fuel cells is the highest among fuel cells. However, such batteries have a high operating temperature and a large volume, and are only suitable for large-scale, fixed power supplies. In response to the increasing demand for small, portable power supplies, miniature solid oxide fuel cells are required to be developed. This requires the use of hydrocarbon compounds as fuels. Under the prior art conditions, hydrocarbon compounds are difficult to directly use for power generation in environments below 600 degrees Celsius. Therefore, reducing the operating temperature of the fuel cell is an urgent problem to be solved.

Researchers from the Institute of Industrial Technology and the Colorado School of Mines in the United States have created a nanotube-sized miniature solid oxide fuel cell with a nanometer-sized ceria layer on the inner wall of the fuel cell as a reforming catalyst layer for the fuel cell, and confirmed that the tubular structure and catalyst The layer enables the hydrocarbon fuel cell to generate electricity at a relatively low temperature of 450 degrees Celsius.

The communique said that the results of this research will help develop a compact hydrocarbon fuel cell system capable of operating at relatively low temperatures as early as possible. The results have been published in the British "Energy and Environmental Science" magazine.