Next generation fuel cells based on semiconductor-ionic principle

Heterostructure oxide material interfaces show extraordinary material properties such as great enhancement in the ionic conductivity, which is useful for fuel cells. We report a semiconductor-ionic
heterostructure La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ (LSCF) and Sm-Ca co-doped ceria (SCDC) material possessing unique properties for new generation fuel cells using semiconductor-ionic heterostructure composite materials.The LSCF-SCDC system contains both ionic and electronic conductivities, above 0.1 S/cm, but used as the electrolyte for the fuel cell it has displayed promising performance in terms of OCV (above 1.0 V) and enhanced power density (ca. 1000 mW/cm2 at 550 °C). The work was done by an international researcher group with participation of Prof. Peter Lund from Aalto University and Hubei University. The results were recently published in Nanoenergy 37(2017)195-202. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2017.05.003