Ultra-elevated power density and high energy efficiency of protonic ceramic fuel cells: Numerical and experimental results

The fabrication of high-performance protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) and the accurate evaluation of their energy efficiency remain challenging because of electron-hole leakage. By combining an established numerical method with experiments, we developed high-performance chemically stable Ce-free PCFCs with a BaZr0.8Yb0.2O3-delta electrolyte that perform comparably to first-tier PCFCs, which typically employ Ce-containing electrolytes. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to numerically reproduce experimental performance over a wide range of temperatures, electrolyte thicknesses, and current densities. Importantly, our study can accurately predict the ultra-elevated performance of cells under different conditions without the need for conducting additional experiments (e.g., > 3.0 W & sdot;cm- 2 power density or > 70% lower heating value energy efficiency)

Automated summary

By combining numerical methods with experiments, we developed high-performance and chemically stable Ce-free protonic ceramic fuel cells. This study can accurately predict the performance of cells under different conditions without the need for conducting additional experiments.