• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.42 no.12 s.283
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• pp.865-871
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• 2005

Submicron thick solid electrolyte membrane is essential to the implementation of low temperature solid oxide fuel cell, and, therefore, development of new electrode structures is necessary for the submicron thick solid electrolyte deposition while providing functions as current collector and fuel transport channel. In this research, a nickel membrane with multi-stage nano hole array has been produced via modified two step replication process. The obtained membrane has practical size of 12mm diameter and $50{\mu}m$ thickness. The multi-stage nature provides 20nm pores on one side and 200nm on the other side. The 20nm side provides catalyst layer and $30\~40\%$ planar porosity was measured. The successful deposition of submicron thick yttria stabilized zirconia membrane on the substrate shows the possibility of achieving a low temperature solid oxide fuel cell.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.487-492
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• 2011

The effect of the application of lanthanum strontrium manganite and yttria-stabilized zirconia (LSM-YSZ) nano-composite fabricated by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) as a cathode of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is studied. A gradient-structure thin-film cathode composed of 1 micron-thick LSM-YSZ deposited at an ambient pressure ($P_{amb}$) of 200 mTorr; 2 micron-thick LSM-YSZ deposited at a $P_{amb}$ of 300 mTorr; and 2 micron-thick lanthanum strontium cobaltite (LSC) current collecting layer was fabricated on an anode-supported SOFC with an ~8 micron-thick YSZ electrolyte. In comparison with a 1 micron-thick nano-structure single-phase LSM cathode fabricated by PLD, it was obviously effective to increase triple phase boundaries (TPB) over the whole thickness of the cathode layer by employing the composite and increasing the physical thickness of the cathode. Both polarization and ohmic resistances of the cell were significantly reduced and the power output of the cell was improved by a factor of 1.6.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.44 no.1 s.296
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• pp.32-36
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• 2007

Zinc gallate $(ZnGa_2O_4)$ thin film phosphors have been formed on ITO glass substrates by a sol-gel spinning coating method. For the formation of the film phosphors, the starting materials of zinc acetate dihydrate, gallium nitrate hydrate and 2-methoxyethanol as a solution were used. The thin films deposited were firstly dried at $100^{\circ}C$ and fired at $500^{\circ}C\;or\;600^{\circ}C$ for 30 min and then, annealed $500^{\circ}C\;or\;600^{\circ}C$ at for 30 min under an annealing atmosphere of 3% $H_2/Ar$. The thin films deposited on ITO glass plates showed the (220), (222), (400), (422), (511), and (440) peaks of spinel structure as well as the (311) peak indicating a standard powder diffraction pattern. The surface morphologies of the thin film phosphors were observed with a firing and an annealing condition. The $ZnGa_2O_4$ film phosphors showed the blue emission spectra around 410 nm as well as the emission spectra in the UV region (360-380 nm).

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.43 no.2 s.285
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• pp.85-91
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• 2006

Electron Beam Physical Vapor Deposition (EB-PVD) was applied to fabricate a thin film YSZ electrolyte with large area on the porous NiO-YSZ anode substrate. Microstructural and thermal stability of the as-deposited electrolyte film was investigated via SEM and XRD analysis. In order to obtain an optimized YSZ film with high stability, both temperature and surface roughness of substrate were varied. A structurally homogeneous YSZ film with large area of $12\times12\;cm^2$ and high thermal stability up to $900^{\circ}C$ was fabricated at the substrate temperature of $T_s/T_m$ higher than 0.4. The smoother surface was proved to give the better film quality. Precise control of heating and cooling rate of the anode substrate was necessary to obtain a very dense YSZ electrolyte with high thermal stability, which affords to survive after post heat treatment for fabrication a cathode layer on it as well as after long time operation of solid oxide fuel cell at high temperature.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.791-798
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• 1999

The preparation method of yttria-stabilized zirconia(YSZ) thin film for an anode support type solid oxide fuel cell(SOFC) by electrophoretic deposition(EPD) and dip-coating was studied. And the difference in both preparation method was investigated through basic understanding of processing parameters which may significantly affect weight microstruxcture and defect of film. In dip-coating the thickness of film increased with time until 30 s and then the weight of film decreased with time due to particle falling off from the coagulated film. In EPD although the weight of film increased with time and applied constant-current sagging of the film was observed when the applied current was less that 0.035 mA/$cm^2$ and more than 120 s. Since YSZ thin film by EPD on porous substrate was dense smooth and homogeneous it was expected to be suitable for the electrolyte of an anode support type SOFC.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 1999

Pd-ceramic composite membranes and catalytic membrane reactors(CMR) have been studied for hydrogen and its isotopes (deuterium and tritium) purification and recovery in the fusion reactor fuel cycle. Particularly a closed-loop process has been studied for recovering tritium from tritiated water by means of a CMR in which the water gas shift reaction takes place. The development of the techniques for coating micro-porous ceramic tubes with Pd and Pd/Ag thin layers is described : P composite membranes have been produced by electroless deposition (Pd/Ag film of 10-20 $\mu$m) and rolling of thin metal sheets (Pd and Pd/Ag membranes of 50-70 $\mu$m). Experimental results of the electroless membranes have shown a not complete hydrogen selectivity because of the presence of some defects(micro-holes) in the metallic thin layer. Conversely the rolled thin Pd and Pd/ag membranes have separated hydrogen from the other gases with a complete selectivity giving rise to a slightly larger (about a factor 1.7) mass transfer resistance with respect to the electroless membranes. Experimental tests have confirmed the good performances of the rolled membranes in terms of chemical stability over several weeks of operation. Therefore these rolled membranes and CMR are adequate for applications in the fusion reactor fuel cycle as well as in the industrial processes where high pure hydrogen is required (i.e. hydrocarbon reforming for fuel cell)

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.391-402
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• 1999

Characteristics of composite electrolytes which were prepared by coating a thin film of YSZ (yttria sta-bilized zirconia : (ZrO2)0.92 (Y2O3)0.08) on YDC (yttria doped ceria : Ce0.8Y0.2O1.9) with mixed conductivity have been investigated in order to develop the low-temperature solid oxide fuel cell. The thickness (t) of spin-coated YSZ thin films after the heat-treatment at 600$^{\circ}C$ was increased proportionally to the sol con-centrations (C) while the decrease in its thickness with the spin rate ($\omega$) could be expressed in the e-quation of ln t=9.49-0.53 ln $\omega$(0.99mol//s sol conc.) When the sol concentration and the spin rate being less than 0.99 mol/l and higher than 1000 rpm respectively reliable YSZ/YDC composite electrolytes could be obtained by multi-coating although several micro-cracks were observed in singly coated YSZ film surfaces. The dense YSZ film with a 1$\mu\textrm{m}$ thickness was prepared by coating of 0.99 mol/l YSZ sol five-times at 2000 rpm followed by heat-treatment at 1400$^{\circ}C$ for 2h, The adhesion between YSZ film and YDC substrate was found to be very good. The open circuit voltages of H2/O2 single cell with YSZ/YDC composite electrolytes were 0.79∼0.82 V at 800$^{\circ}C$ and 0.75∼0.77V at 900$^{\circ}C$ The open circuit voltage was inversely proportioned to the thickness ratio of YSZ thin film (1$\mu\textrm{m}$) to YDC substrate(0.28-2.22 mm)

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.41 no.12 s.271
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• pp.900-906
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• 2004

Solid oxide fuel cells have a limitation in their low-temperature application due to the low ionic conductivity of electrolyte materials and difficulties in thin film formation on porous gas diffusion layer. These problems can be solved by improvement of ionic conductivity through controlled nanostructure of electrolyte and adopting nanoporous electrodes as substrates which have homogeneous submicron pore size and highly flattened surface. In this study, ultra-thin oxide films having submicron thickness without gas leakage are deposited on nanoporous substrates. By oxidation of metal thin films deposited onto nanoporous anodic alumina substrates with pore size of $20nm{\sim}200nm$ using dc-magnetron sputtering at room temperature, ultra-thin and dense ionic conducting oxide films with submicron thickness are realized. The specific material properties of the thin films including gas permeation, grain/gran boundaries formation, change of crystalline structure/microstructure by phase transition are investigated for optimization of ultra thin film deposition process.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.82-85
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• 2010

Recently, thin film processes for oxides and metal deposition, such as physical vapor deposition (PVD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD), have been widely adapted to fabricate solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). In this paper, we presented two research area of the use of such techniques. Gadolinium doped ceria (GDC) showed high ionic conductivity and could guarantee operation at low temperature. But the electron conductivity at low oxygen partial pressure and the weak mechanical property have been significant problems. To solve these issues, we coated GDC electrolyte with a nano scale yittria-doped stabilized zirconium (YSZ) layer via atomic layer deposition (ALD). We expected that the thin YSZ layer could have functions of electron blocking and preventing ceria from the reduction atmosphere. Yittria-doped barium zirconium (BYZ) has several orders higher proton conductivity than oxide ion conductor as YSZ and also has relatively high chemical stability. The fabrication processes of BYZ is very sophisticated, especially the synthesis of thin-film BYZ. We discussed the detailed fabrication processes of BYZ as well as the deposition of electrode. This paper discusses possible cell structure and process flow to accommodate such films.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.43 no.5 s.288
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• pp.265-269
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• 2006

We have deposited NiO films by RF sputtering on $Al_2O_3/SiO_2/Si$ and 100 nm-thick Gd doped $CeO_2$ covered $Al_2O_3/SiO_2/Si$ substrates at various $Ar/O_2$ ratios. The deposited films were reduced to form porous Ni thin fllms in 4% $H_2\;at\;400^{\circ}C$. For the films deposited in pure Ar, the reduction was retarded due to the thickness and the orientation of the NiO films. On the other hand, the films deposited in oxygen mixed ambient were reduced and formed porous Ni films after 20 min of reduction. We also investigated the possibility of using the films for the single chamber operation by studying the electrical property of the films in the fuel/air mixed environment. It is shown that the resistance of the Ni film increases quickly in the mixed gas environment and thus further improvements of Ni-base anodes are required for using them in the single chamber operation.