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A solid oxide fuel cell (or SOFC) is an electrochemical conversion device that produces electricity directly from oxidizing a fuel. Fuel cells are characterized by their electrolyte material; the SOFC has a solid oxide or ceramic electrolyte. Advantages of this class of fuel cells include high combined heat and power efficiency, long-term stability, fuel flexibility, low emissions, and relatively low cost. The largest disadvantage is the high operating temperature which results in longer start-up times and mechanical and chemical compatibility issues.
In vacuum tubes and gas-filled tubes, a hot cathode or thermionic cathode is a cathode electrode which is heated to make it emit electrons due to thermionic emission. This is in contrast to a cold cathode, which does not have a heating element. The heating element is usually an electrical filament heated by a separate electric current passing through it. Hot cathodes typically achieve much higher power density than cold cathodes, emitting significantly more electrons from the same surface area.
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requiring a continuous source of fuel and oxygen (usually from air) to sustain the chemical reaction, whereas in a battery the chemical energy usually comes from substances that are already present in the battery. Fuel cells can produce electricity continuously for as long as fuel and oxygen are supplied.
Despite being a mature technology, solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) devices are still limited by lifetime issues. In SOFC stacks, cell/interconnect interaction is the main responsible for voltage degradation at the oxygen electrode side. Corrosion and chromium ...
Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) can convert hydrocarbon fuels, such as methane, into heat and electricity with a high conversion efficiency. The fuel flexibility of the SOFC derives from the high operating temperature (600-900 °C). Such a high temperature s ...
Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are approaching commercialization to improve power production efficiency. Currently, cost and lifetime reliability limit their spread in the market. The SOFC is ceramic-based, but refractory metal alloys are in fact the major ...