Highly Active Oxygen Evolution on Carbon Fiber Paper Coated with Atomic-Layer-Deposited Cobalt Oxide.

In this work, we evaluated the oxygen evolution performance of cobalt oxide (CoO x)-coated carbon fiber paper in electrochemical water splitting. For a uniform coating of CoO x layers along the carbon fiber paper, the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique was applied. We achieved a uniform and conformal coating of atomic-layer-deposited CoO x (ALD-CoO x) on the carbon fiber paper. The overpotential for oxygen evolution measured for the optimized ALD-coated carbon fiber paper was as low as 343 mV at 10 mA cm-2, which is competitive with the activity of state-of-the-art CoO x prepared on electrodes with large surface areas. Oxygen evolution is not enhanced after a critical thickness, about 28 nm in our study, is reached. The optimal thickness of the ALD-CoO x film is dependent on two competing effects: the high oxidation state of cobalt ions in thicker CoO x helps the oxygen evolution, whereas the introduction of a thick oxide coating decelerates the rate of charge transfer at the surface.

Fabrication of Lanthanum Strontium Cobalt Ferrite-Gadolinium-Doped Ceria Composite Cathodes Using a Low-Price Inkjet Printer.

In this work, we have successfully fabricated lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite (LSCF)-gadolinium-doped ceria (GDC) composite cathodes by inkjet printing and demonstrated their functioning in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The cathodes are printed using a low-cost HP inkjet printer, and the LSCF and GDC source inks are synthesized with fluidic properties optimum for inkjet printing. The composition and microstructure of the LSCF and GDC layers are successfully controlled by controlling the color level in the printed images and the number of printing cycles, respectively. Anode-support type SOFCs with optimized LSCF-GDC composite cathodes synthesized by our inkjet printing method have achieved a power output of over 570 mW cm-2 at 650 °C, which is comparable to the performance of a commercial SOFC stack. Electrochemical impedance analysis is carried out to establish a relationship between the cell performance and the compositional and structural characteristics of the printed LSCF-GDC composite cathodes.

Demonstrating the potential of yttrium-doped barium zirconate electrolyte for high-performance fuel cells.

In reducing the high operating temperatures (≥800 °C) of solid-oxide fuel cells, use of protonic ceramics as an alternative electrolyte material is attractive due to their high conductivity and low activation energy in a low-temperature regime (≤600 °C). Among many protonic ceramics, yttrium-doped barium zirconate has attracted attention due to its excellent chemical stability, which is the main issue in protonic-ceramic fuel cells. However, poor sinterability of yttrium-doped barium zirconate discourages its fabrication as a thin-film electrolyte and integration on porous anode supports, both of which are essential to achieve high performance. Here we fabricate a protonic-ceramic fuel cell using a thin-film-deposited yttrium-doped barium zirconate electrolyte with no impeding grain boundaries owing to the columnar structure tightly integrated with nanogranular cathode and nanoporous anode supports, which to the best of our knowledge exhibits a record high-power output of up to an order of magnitude higher than those of other reported barium zirconate-based fuel cells.

Nanoporous silver cathode surface treated by atomic layer deposition of CeO(x) for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells.

We evaluated the performance of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with a 50 nm thin silver (Ag) cathode surface treated with cerium oxide (CeO(x)) by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The performances of bare and ALD-treated Ag cathodes were evaluated on gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC) electrolyte supporting cells with a platinum (Pt) anode over 300 °C-450 °C. Our work confirms that ALD CeO(x) treatment enhances cathodic performance and thermal stability of the Ag cathode. The performance difference between cells using a Ag cathode optimally treated with an ALD CeO(x) surface and a reference Pt cathode is about 50% at 450 °C in terms of fuel cell power output in our experiment. The bare Ag cathode completely agglomerated into islands during fuel cell operation at 450 °C, while the ALD CeO(x) treatment effectively protects the porosity of the cathode. We also discuss the long-term stability of ALD CeO(x)-treated Ag cathodes related to the microstructure of the layers.

Low-frequency noise in multilayer MoS2 field-effect transistors: the effect of high-k passivation.

Diagnosing of the interface quality and the interactions between insulators and semiconductors is significant to achieve the high performance of nanodevices. Herein, low-frequency noise (LFN) in mechanically exfoliated multilayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) (~11.3 nm-thick) field-effect transistors with back-gate control was characterized with and without an Al2O3 high-k passivation layer. The carrier number fluctuation (CNF) model associated with trapping/detrapping the charge carriers at the interface nicely described the noise behavior in the strong accumulation regime both with and without the Al2O3 passivation layer. The interface trap density at the MoS2-SiO2 interface was extracted from the LFN analysis, and estimated to be Nit ~ 10(10) eV(-1) cm(-2) without and with the passivation layer. This suggested that the accumulation channel induced by the back-gate was not significantly influenced by the passivation layer. The Hooge mobility fluctuation (HMF) model implying the bulk conduction was found to describe the drain current fluctuations in the subthreshold regime, which is rarely observed in other nanodevices, attributed to those extremely thin channel sizes. In the case of the thick-MoS2 (~40 nm-thick) without the passivation, the HMF model was clearly observed all over the operation regime, ensuring the existence of the bulk conduction in multilayer MoS2. With the Al2O3 passivation layer, the change in the noise behavior was explained from the point of formation of the additional top channel in the MoS2 because of the fixed charges in the Al2O3. The interface trap density from the additional CNF model was Nit = 1.8 × 10(12) eV(-1) cm(-2) at the MoS2-Al2O3 interface.