PhD research for industrialisation of thin films for fuel cell electrolytes
Fuel cells are a key element for environmentally friendly and sustainable energy systems of the future due to their high efficiency, negligible emission, and because they can use most fuels including pure hydrogen.
Solid oxide fuel cells are the most efficient of all fuel cells, but today they have one major flaw: the operating temperature of the fuel cell needs to be very high (900 – 1000 °C), a severe limitation that makes them expensive and difficult to handle.
This project will develop thin-film materials that will permit solid oxide fuel cells to operate at temperatures reduced by several hundred degrees. This is necessary for the widespread use of solid oxide fuel cells in everyday applications such as cars.
The project is a collaboration between key industry partners in the Nordic countries in industrial coating synthesis and technology transfer (the Danish Technological Institute) and fuel cell development and commercialisation (Topsøe Fuel Cell A/S) and a world-leading research environment in thin-film research (Linköping University).