A high temperature sintering process for solid electrolyte is the main cause of the increase in manufacturing costs of SOFCs. In this study, we developed a novel flash light sintering technique as an alternative sintering process of the conventional thermal sintering process. The YSZ electrolyte films were fabricated by conventional screen-printing method and the flash light sintering process and ESB sintering aid were applied to improve the flash light sinterability of the YSZ electrolyte. In the flash light sintering process, the effect of various pulse conditions such as energy density, and pulse interval were investigated and the microstructure, crystallinity, and sintering behavior of the sintered films were analyzed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the flash light sintering process. The flash light sintered YSZ electrolyte layer was used to fabricate the anode-supported SOFCs and its functionality is successfully demonstrated with the high open circuit voltage. The significance of this study includes minimization of the process time from tens of hours to just a few seconds, thus facilitating the commercialization of SOFCs.

Recently, new perovskite cathode material, SrCo_0.8Nb_0.1Ta0.1O_3-δ (SCNT) was reported, showing high oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity. This study demonstrates thin film deposition of SCNT by pulsed laser deposition technique applied to anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) based thin-film solid oxide fuel cells (TF-SOFCs) to assess the possibility of SCNT application to TF-SOFCs. The SCNT powder and the target were prepared by the solid state reactive sintering method (SSRS). This target was then mounted to the pulsed laser depositing machine and deposited on the Si wafer, and the nano-porous substrate, AAO. The physical structure and the chemical phase were investigated by the field emission scanning electron microscope, focused ion beam scanning electron microscope, and X-ray diffraction. On the top of the AAO, thin Pt film and yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) were first deposited by sputtering and the SCNT was deposited on the top of it afterward. The open circuit voltage of AAO cell was tested at 500°C, and successful polarization activity of SCNT was observed.

Thin film solid oxide fuel cells (TF-SOFCs) are considered to be a promising next generation energy conversion device. TFSOFCs have many advantages such as rapid turn-on and off, fuel flexibility, material flexibility, high power density and availability of compact system. Electrodes and electrolytes of TF-SOFCs are fabricated by thin film processes. In order to fabricate high performance TF-SOFCs, proper thin film processes have to be used due to the unique requirements of each part of the TF-SOFCs. This paper reviews the thin film deposition process for fabrication of TF-SOFCs and the advantages and disadvantages of physical and chemical vapor deposition processes. In addition, materials prepared through thin film processes and the performance results of TF-SOFCs are reviewed.