Development of ceramic nanosheets-based inks for inkjet printing of ultra-thin films for solid oxide cells (SOCs) components

Abstract

Hydrogen and fuel cells are a potential solution to the ever growing need of safe, efficient, and environmentally friendly energy supply. Their importance has increased in a scenario of renewable sources requiring efficient storage technologies to mitigate intermittency. In fact, fuel cell have been recently claimed as a promising technology to combine energy generation and storage to ensure that networks remain robust as more renewable technologies are adopted (see, pl. Nature 23 Sept. 2015, pg. 447). Thus, fuel cells are advancing towards multiple functionality to generate power, to convert water into hydrogen by electrolysis, and electrochemical conversion of natural gas into liquid fuels such as methanol. In this scenario, the so-called solid oxide fuel cells/electrolyser cells (SOFCs, SOECs) devices are expected to play a major role. The newest developments in the field are expected to occur by adopting innovative microfabrication methods enabling for a fast, inexpensive, and scalable manufacturing of SOFCs/SOECs devices. Among studied methods, inkjet printing offers a great potential as low-cost, flexible, and efficient manufacturing drop-by-drop, layer-by-layer functional materials. The proposed research project is devoted to the development of ceramic nano-inks for the fabrication of ultra-thin components for solid oxide fuel cells and electrolyzer cells (SOFCs, SOECs). Novel methods and protocols will be developed for the preparation of optimized nano-inks containing nano-structured ceramic materials (e.g. nanosheets). Materials of interest in the field of energy conversion and storage will be selected and used in the formulation of inks, e.g. ceria-gadolinium oxide. The final goal is to use inkjet printer to produce functional layers, e.g., electrolyte and diffusion barriers, for high-performance solid oxide cells. Additionally, teaching and training, for graduate students and researchers, on the fundamental aspects of ceramic inks preparation and optimization will be part of the project taking place in the institutions participating in this proposal: Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - Universidade de São Paulo (IPEN-USP), Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), and at Instituto de Quimica - Universidade Estadual Paulista (IQUNESP) (Campus de Araraquara). (AU)