Preparation and application of LiSiC-oxide for low temperature solid oxide fuel cells

Semiconductors are well known as excellent materials in the field of exploring novel avenues which combine various fields in electronics, electrochemistry, etc for new functional device concepts. Lithium silicon carbide (LiSiC) is a well-known electrode material for Lithium ion batteries but relatively new for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and electrolyte-layer free fuel cells (EFFCs). In the present work, we have explored three categories of fuel cells based on mixed LiSiC-SDC (samarium doped ceria) in SOFC and LiSiC as a single component material with type (I) and without coating of a layer of 3C-SiC as EFFC type (II). All of three cells are sandwiched between Ni foams coated with NCAL (Ni_0.8Co_0.15Al_0.05Li-oxide). The electrochemical performances of as prepared fuel cells are tested at 550°C, which is substantially lower than in conventional fuel cell materials. The LiSiC based EFFC type (II) demonstrates better performance because of less ohmic resistance as compared to type (I) have more layers. This indicates that the LiSiC-SDC system has potential for fuel cell development in accordance with energy band structure and alignment.