Reducing Critical Raw Material Use in Commercial Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Using Vertically Aligned Thin-Film Cathodes with Enhanced Long-Term Stability

Matthew P. Wells; Kosova Kreka; Mohana V. Kante; Miriam Botros; Ozden Celikbilek; Jan Pieter Ouweltjes; Federico Baiutti; Simon M. Fairclough; Caterina Ducati; Albert Tarancón; Judith L. MacManus-Driscoll

doi:10.1002/eem2.70011

Reducing Critical Raw Material Use in Commercial Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Using Vertically Aligned Thin-Film Cathodes with Enhanced Long-Term Stability

Matthew P. Wells
, Kosova Kreka
, Mohana V. Kante
, Miriam Botros
, Ozden Celikbilek
, Jan Pieter Ouweltjes
, Federico Baiutti
, Simon M. Fairclough
, Caterina Ducati
, Albert Tarancón
, Judith L. MacManus-Driscoll

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are widely presented as a sustainable solution to future energy challenges. Nevertheless, solid oxide fuel cells presently rely on significant use of several critical raw materials to enable optimized electrode reaction kinetics. This challenge can be addressed by using thin-film electrode materials; however, this is typically accompanied by complex device fabrication procedures as well as poor mechanical/chemical stability. In this work, we conduct a systematic study of a range of promising thin-film electrode materials based on vertically aligned nanocomposite (VAN) thin films. We demonstrate low area specific resistance (ASR) values of 0.44 cm² at 650 °C can be achieved using (La_0.60Sr_0.40)_0.95Co_0.20Fe_0.80O₃-(Sm₂O₃)_0.20(CeO₂)_0.80 (LSCF-SDC) thin films, which are also characterized by a low degradation rate, approximately half that of planar LSCF thin films. We then integrate these (La_0.60Sr_0.40)_0.95Co_0.20Fe_0.80O₃-(Sm₂O₃)_0.20(CeO₂)_0.80 vertically aligned nanocomposite films directly with commercial anode supported half cells through a single-step deposition process. The resulting cells exhibit peak power density of 0.47 W cm⁻² at 750 °C, competitive with 0.64 W cm⁻² achieved for the same cells operating with a bulk (La_0.60Sr_0.40)_0.95Co_0.20Fe_0.80O₃ cathode, despite 99.5% reduction in cathode critical raw material use. By demonstrating such competitive performance using thin-film cathode functional layers, this work also paves the way for further cost reductions in solid oxide fuel cells, which could be achieved by likewise applying thin-film architectures to the anode functional layer and/or current collecting layers, which typically account for the greatest materials cost in solid oxide fuel cell stacks. Therefore, the present work marks a valuable step towards the sustainable proliferation of solid oxide fuel cells.

Original language	English
Article number	e70011
Journal	Energy and Environmental Materials
Volume	8
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/eem2.70011
State	Published - Jul 2025
Externally published	Yes

Funding

M.P.W. and K.K. contributed equally to this work and are designated as co-first authors. M.P.W., K.K., M.B., O.C., J.P.O., A.T., and J.L.M.-D. acknowledge the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant number 101017709) (EPISTORE). J.L.M.-D. also acknowledges support from the Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging technologies (grant number CIET1819_24), and the EPSRC Centre of Advanced Materials for Integrated Energy Systems (CAM-IES) (grant number EP/P007767/1) and the EU-H2020-ERC-ADG EROS (grant number 882929). M.V.K. and M.B. are grateful for the support provided by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Project no. 424789449, grant no. HA1344-45-1). O.C. also acknowledges support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 836503. We acknowledge use of the Thermo Fisher Spectra 300 TEM at the Wolfson Electron Microscopy Suite at the University of Cambridge funded by EPSRC under grant EP/R008779/1. M.P.W. and K.K. contributed equally to this work and are designated as co‐first authors. M.P.W., K.K., M.B., O.C., J.P.O., A.T., and J.L.M.‐D. acknowledge the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant number 101017709) (EPISTORE). J.L.M.‐D. also acknowledges support from the Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging technologies (grant number CIET1819_24), and the EPSRC Centre of Advanced Materials for Integrated Energy Systems (CAM‐IES) (grant number EP/P007767/1) and the EU‐H2020‐ERC‐ADG EROS (grant number 882929). M.V.K. and M.B. are grateful for the support provided by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Project no. 424789449, grant no. HA1344‐45‐1). O.C. also acknowledges support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska‐Curie grant agreement no. 836503. We acknowledge use of the Thermo Fisher Spectra 300 TEM at the Wolfson Electron Microscopy Suite at the University of Cambridge funded by EPSRC under grant EP/R008779/1.

Keywords

solid oxide fuel cells
thin films
vertically aligned nanocomposites

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10.1002/eem2.70011

Cite this

Wells, M. P., Kreka, K., Kante, M. V., Botros, M., Celikbilek, O., Ouweltjes, J. P., Baiutti, F., Fairclough, S. M., Ducati, C., Tarancón, A., & MacManus-Driscoll, J. L. (2025). Reducing Critical Raw Material Use in Commercial Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Using Vertically Aligned Thin-Film Cathodes with Enhanced Long-Term Stability. Energy and Environmental Materials, 8(4), Article e70011. https://doi.org/10.1002/eem2.70011

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title = "Reducing Critical Raw Material Use in Commercial Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Using Vertically Aligned Thin-Film Cathodes with Enhanced Long-Term Stability",

abstract = "Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are widely presented as a sustainable solution to future energy challenges. Nevertheless, solid oxide fuel cells presently rely on significant use of several critical raw materials to enable optimized electrode reaction kinetics. This challenge can be addressed by using thin-film electrode materials; however, this is typically accompanied by complex device fabrication procedures as well as poor mechanical/chemical stability. In this work, we conduct a systematic study of a range of promising thin-film electrode materials based on vertically aligned nanocomposite (VAN) thin films. We demonstrate low area specific resistance (ASR) values of 0.44 cm2 at 650 °C can be achieved using (La0.60Sr0.40)0.95Co0.20Fe0.80O3-(Sm2O3)0.20(CeO2)0.80 (LSCF-SDC) thin films, which are also characterized by a low degradation rate, approximately half that of planar LSCF thin films. We then integrate these (La0.60Sr0.40)0.95Co0.20Fe0.80O3-(Sm2O3)0.20(CeO2)0.80 vertically aligned nanocomposite films directly with commercial anode supported half cells through a single-step deposition process. The resulting cells exhibit peak power density of 0.47 W cm−2 at 750 °C, competitive with 0.64 W cm−2 achieved for the same cells operating with a bulk (La0.60Sr0.40)0.95Co0.20Fe0.80O3 cathode, despite 99.5\% reduction in cathode critical raw material use. By demonstrating such competitive performance using thin-film cathode functional layers, this work also paves the way for further cost reductions in solid oxide fuel cells, which could be achieved by likewise applying thin-film architectures to the anode functional layer and/or current collecting layers, which typically account for the greatest materials cost in solid oxide fuel cell stacks. Therefore, the present work marks a valuable step towards the sustainable proliferation of solid oxide fuel cells.",

keywords = "solid oxide fuel cells, thin films, vertically aligned nanocomposites",

author = "Wells, \{Matthew P.\} and Kosova Kreka and Kante, \{Mohana V.\} and Miriam Botros and Ozden Celikbilek and Ouweltjes, \{Jan Pieter\} and Federico Baiutti and Fairclough, \{Simon M.\} and Caterina Ducati and Albert Taranc{\'o}n and MacManus-Driscoll, \{Judith L.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s). Energy \& Environmental Materials published by John Wiley \& Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Zhengzhou University.",

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Wells, MP, Kreka, K, Kante, MV, Botros, M, Celikbilek, O, Ouweltjes, JP, Baiutti, F, Fairclough, SM, Ducati, C, Tarancón, A & MacManus-Driscoll, JL 2025, 'Reducing Critical Raw Material Use in Commercial Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Using Vertically Aligned Thin-Film Cathodes with Enhanced Long-Term Stability', Energy and Environmental Materials, vol. 8, no. 4, e70011. https://doi.org/10.1002/eem2.70011

TY - JOUR

T1 - Reducing Critical Raw Material Use in Commercial Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Using Vertically Aligned Thin-Film Cathodes with Enhanced Long-Term Stability

AU - Wells, Matthew P.

AU - Kreka, Kosova

AU - Kante, Mohana V.

AU - Botros, Miriam

AU - Celikbilek, Ozden

AU - Ouweltjes, Jan Pieter

AU - Baiutti, Federico

AU - Fairclough, Simon M.

AU - Ducati, Caterina

AU - Tarancón, Albert

AU - MacManus-Driscoll, Judith L.

PY - 2025/7

Y1 - 2025/7

N2 - Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are widely presented as a sustainable solution to future energy challenges. Nevertheless, solid oxide fuel cells presently rely on significant use of several critical raw materials to enable optimized electrode reaction kinetics. This challenge can be addressed by using thin-film electrode materials; however, this is typically accompanied by complex device fabrication procedures as well as poor mechanical/chemical stability. In this work, we conduct a systematic study of a range of promising thin-film electrode materials based on vertically aligned nanocomposite (VAN) thin films. We demonstrate low area specific resistance (ASR) values of 0.44 cm2 at 650 °C can be achieved using (La0.60Sr0.40)0.95Co0.20Fe0.80O3-(Sm2O3)0.20(CeO2)0.80 (LSCF-SDC) thin films, which are also characterized by a low degradation rate, approximately half that of planar LSCF thin films. We then integrate these (La0.60Sr0.40)0.95Co0.20Fe0.80O3-(Sm2O3)0.20(CeO2)0.80 vertically aligned nanocomposite films directly with commercial anode supported half cells through a single-step deposition process. The resulting cells exhibit peak power density of 0.47 W cm−2 at 750 °C, competitive with 0.64 W cm−2 achieved for the same cells operating with a bulk (La0.60Sr0.40)0.95Co0.20Fe0.80O3 cathode, despite 99.5% reduction in cathode critical raw material use. By demonstrating such competitive performance using thin-film cathode functional layers, this work also paves the way for further cost reductions in solid oxide fuel cells, which could be achieved by likewise applying thin-film architectures to the anode functional layer and/or current collecting layers, which typically account for the greatest materials cost in solid oxide fuel cell stacks. Therefore, the present work marks a valuable step towards the sustainable proliferation of solid oxide fuel cells.

AB - Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are widely presented as a sustainable solution to future energy challenges. Nevertheless, solid oxide fuel cells presently rely on significant use of several critical raw materials to enable optimized electrode reaction kinetics. This challenge can be addressed by using thin-film electrode materials; however, this is typically accompanied by complex device fabrication procedures as well as poor mechanical/chemical stability. In this work, we conduct a systematic study of a range of promising thin-film electrode materials based on vertically aligned nanocomposite (VAN) thin films. We demonstrate low area specific resistance (ASR) values of 0.44 cm2 at 650 °C can be achieved using (La0.60Sr0.40)0.95Co0.20Fe0.80O3-(Sm2O3)0.20(CeO2)0.80 (LSCF-SDC) thin films, which are also characterized by a low degradation rate, approximately half that of planar LSCF thin films. We then integrate these (La0.60Sr0.40)0.95Co0.20Fe0.80O3-(Sm2O3)0.20(CeO2)0.80 vertically aligned nanocomposite films directly with commercial anode supported half cells through a single-step deposition process. The resulting cells exhibit peak power density of 0.47 W cm−2 at 750 °C, competitive with 0.64 W cm−2 achieved for the same cells operating with a bulk (La0.60Sr0.40)0.95Co0.20Fe0.80O3 cathode, despite 99.5% reduction in cathode critical raw material use. By demonstrating such competitive performance using thin-film cathode functional layers, this work also paves the way for further cost reductions in solid oxide fuel cells, which could be achieved by likewise applying thin-film architectures to the anode functional layer and/or current collecting layers, which typically account for the greatest materials cost in solid oxide fuel cell stacks. Therefore, the present work marks a valuable step towards the sustainable proliferation of solid oxide fuel cells.

KW - solid oxide fuel cells

KW - thin films

KW - vertically aligned nanocomposites

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105000274975

U2 - 10.1002/eem2.70011

DO - 10.1002/eem2.70011

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105000274975

SN - 2575-0348

VL - 8

JO - Energy and Environmental Materials

JF - Energy and Environmental Materials

IS - 4

M1 - e70011

ER -

Reducing Critical Raw Material Use in Commercial Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Using Vertically Aligned Thin-Film Cathodes with Enhanced Long-Term Stability

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