The Effect of Atomic Layer Deposition of ZrO₂ on the Cathode on the Performance of Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell

Molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) is a high-temperature fuel cell for power plants. Since MCFC is operated at approximately 650 °C, the lifetime of the MCFC is limited by the thermal degradation of MCFC components. To reduce thermal degradation, the lower temperature for long-term operation is suggested. However, the electrochemical reaction on the cathode becomes slower at the lower operational temperature. To improve the performance for the long-term operation of MCFC, a ZrO₂ coated cathode was fabricated by atomic layer deposition. The cell using the ZrO₂ coated cathode showed a high voltage of 0.867 V at a temperature of 600 °C and a current density of 150 mA/cm². The charge transfer resistance is also reduced dramatically at that same time. It can be confirmed that the high cell performance is presented when the electron-rich environment of NiO by ZrO₂ coating improved the performance of the cell. Also, the cell using the ZrO₂ coated cathode kept a stable performance over 2,000 h due to the prevention of NiO sintering by the uniform ZrO₂ coating layer.