Recent progress in electrolyte-supported solid oxide fuel cells: a review

Electrolyte supported fuel cells (ESCs) have emerged rapidly as energy conversion technology due to its easy to scale up capacity and low cost of production. The major issues confronting by ESC were its higher ohmic losses compared to other electrode supported fuel cells. These ohmic losses were mostly associated to the thickness of electrolyte (> 200 µm) used in it. Due to the limitations of the mechanical load-bearing capacity, it is very difficult to minimize these ohmic losses conventionally. In this direction, a number of attempt has been made in last few decades, such as use of higher oxide ion conducting electrolyte and minimizing the thickness of electrolyte with mechanical integrity. In case of alteration of electrolyte, doped lanthanum gallate, stabilized zirconia, and doped ceria have been discussed in the prospective of ESC. Moreover, to make a thin electrolyte with mechanical reliability, some engineering applied on the ESC architecture itself, in the last decade, has been discussed. This review covers all the progresses that has been done for the upliftment of ESCs in last 4 decades, and summarize their fundamental aspects. Graphical abstract