Planar solid oxide fuel cell with 90 percent increased performance developed

In a study conducted at Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University, research on hydrogen fuel cells has been ongoing for approximately 20 years in collaboration with the Prof. Dr. Nejat Veziroğlu Clean Energy Application and Research Center and Lentatek Space Aviation and Technology Inc.

Within this scope, hydrogen fuel cells have been developed that offer up to 3 times higher energy density than the best lithium batteries, operate completely silently, and can generate electrical energy with 50 percent efficiency.

PERFORMANCE INCREASED BY 90 PERCENT

The performance of the developed planar solid oxide fuel cells was increased by approximately 90 percent by expanding the electrolyte-electrode interfaces. Dr. Çiğdem Timurkutluk, a faculty member at the Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Department of Energy Science and Technology, stated that she has been working on hydrogen and fuel cells since 2007.

Stating that scientists are turning to renewable and sustainable energy sources due to the irreversible damage caused to the environment by fossil fuels, which meet most energy needs, Timurkutluk explained that hydrogen energy has come to the forefront in this regard.

Timurkutluk stated that electrical energy can be produced from hydrogen and oxygen through a fuel cell, and noted the following:

"In this system, you only release heat and water into the environment as waste. As a team, we focused on surface area development studies in planar solid oxide fuel cells. As a result of our work, we increased the efficiency of planar solid oxide fuel cells by around 90 percent. An increase in efficiency of around 90 percent means that all system components shrink, costs decrease, and efficiency increases. The solid oxide fuel cells we developed do not remain at the research stage. With the support of the Lentatek company, solid oxide fuel cells can be produced at commercial scales. Our center is the only center in Turkey capable of producing solid oxide fuel cells at commercial scales."

Mentioning that hydrogen fuel cells can be used in portable electronic devices, Timurkutluk pointed out that they can also be used in spacecraft and stations, military applications, and home and industrial power systems.

THIS WILL EXTEND THE FLIGHT TIME OF UAVS

Stating that she conducted research on micro-tubes, a type of solid oxide fuel cell, during her doctoral studies, Timurkutluk said, "Their application areas are different. We can use planar fuel cells more in stationary applications, but we can also use micro-tubes in mobile devices and vehicles because they occupy less volume, have smaller system components, and have faster start-up times."

Expressing that they plan to provide power units for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with the Lentatek company using micro-tubes, Timurkutluk emphasized that they aim to increase the flight time of unmanned aerial vehicles by up to 5 times with micro-tube solid oxide fuel cells.

Timurkutluk emphasized that they increased the surface area of the planar solid oxide fuel cell they produced with a new and easy method they introduced to the literature, and as a result, the performance increased by up to 2 times. Reporting that the university was selected by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) in 2023 as a university specializing in hydrogen fuel cells, Timurkutluk stated that they are the only state university in Turkey specializing in hydrogen and fuel cells.

Timurkutluk stated that they received the University-Industry Cooperation Outstanding Achievement Award from YÖK in 2018 for the work done in partnership with Lentatek, and said, "In our latest studies, we have made 2 national and 2 international patent applications. One of our TÜBİTAK 1001 projects is still ongoing. We have a NATO project involving 4 different countries. This is a project on the development of a metal-supported solid oxide fuel cell, which is a different type of solid oxide fuel cell."