Nanocoated Cathode Powders for High Performance Solid Oxide Fuel Cells using ALD

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project will seek to produce low-cost nanocoated cathode materials for intermediate temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (IT-SOFCs) that deliver improved performance and lifetime, allowing manufacturers to produce high-quality products at reduced active materials costs. SOFC technologies have demonstrated some of the highest energy/power density envelopes of the various energy generation and energy storage technologies, however the mismatch between high quality materials and components have presented serious barriers to commercial deployment. The overall objective of this Phase I project is to produce best-in-class IT-SOFC cathode materials by incorporating nanoscale coatings onto conventional raw materials. Low-cost coating technologies that can address these deficiencies may propel IT-SOFC technologies into a commercial reality for an array of stationary and mobile applications. The nanoscale surface modification of IT-SOFC electrodes using Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) has recently been demonstrated by this project team, and yielded an unprecedented level of control over interfacial tailoring, while adding performance and lifetime benefits under real operating conditions. High rate semi-continuous ALD coating systems pioneered by PneumatiCoat Technologies (PCT) will transition what is developed at the lab scale into industrially-relevant production scales for commercial IT-SOFCs. In Phase I, PCT, the Missouri University of Science & Technology and University of South Carolina will collaborate to extend advanced ALD coatings (ZrO2 and CeO2-based) to SOFC cathode powders, to further capitalize on the nearly 20x improvement demonstrated by this team on SOFC cathodes after 1000 hour testing when coating the finished electrodes. Aside from mobile/motive applications, the key stationary applications of successful technology would be residential (1-10 kW), industrial (100-1,000 kW) distributed (2-10 MW) and central (100+ MW) power generation using domestic feedstocks such as natural gas, biofuels or even coal gas with ultralow carbon emission, and all at higher efficiency than internal combustion engines.