LOW-TEMPERATURE, ANODE-SUPPORTED HIGH POWER DENSITY SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELLS WITH NANOSTRUCTURED ELECTRODES

This report contains the following three parts. (1) An investigation into the use of direct liquid hydrocarbon fuels in single cell tests. (2) An analysis of residual stresses in anode-supported solid oxide fuel cells. (3) A manuscript on the synthesis of nanosize ceramic (electrode and electrolyte) powders. Nanosize YSZ powder was prepared by a unique approach, in which yttria-doped BaZrO{sub 3} or yttria-doped Na{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3} precursors were first synthesized by a solid state reaction. Then, then the unwanted species, BaO or Na{sub 2}O, was leached away by washing the precursors in a dilute HNO{sub 3} solution or in water. This led to the formation of very fine, nanosize yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ). The particle size of the as-synthesized YSZ powders was a few nanometers and increased to tens of nanometers after thermal treatment at a temperature as high as 1000 C. The as-synthesized as well as heat-treated YSZ powder was of cubic crystal structure