Protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) have limited application below 500 °C owing to their high ohmic and polarization resistances. Hence, efforts are ongoing to develop advanced fuel cells based on semiconductor device science as well as material interfacial engineering. Here, we demonstrate that hydrogen-permeable metal-supported fuel cells (HMFCs) exhibit improved energy conversion efficiency at relatively lower temperatures due to the retardation of secondary conduction (that of the oxide ions) at the oxide/metal heterointerface. The electrolyte membrane in HMFCs is forced to gain extra protons to compensate for the charge from the oxide ions accumulating via blocking, resulting in extremely high proton conductivity. Simultaneously, the heavily hydrated membrane pumps protons out of the cathode side during cell operation. This significantly promotes interfacial proton diffusion for cathode reactions. Hence, HMFCs can operate at high efficiency even at temperatures lower than the operational temperature of PCFCs and will help improve the power generation performance of protonic oxide fuel cells at temperatures lower than 500 °C.

中文翻译：

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质子泵浦促进氢可渗透金属支撑的质子燃料电池中的能量转换

质子陶瓷燃料电池（PCFC）由于其高欧姆和极化电阻而在500°C以下的应用受到限制。因此，正在进行基于半导体器件科学以及材料界面工程开发高级燃料电池的努力。在这里，我们证明了氢可渗透金属支撑的燃料电池（HMFC）在较低的温度下表现出改进的能量转换效率，这是由于在氧化物/金属异质界面处的二次传导（氧化物离子的传导）受阻。HMFC中的电解质膜被迫获得额外的质子，以补偿通过阻塞而积累的氧化物离子产生的电荷，从而导致极高的质子传导率。同时，在电池运行过程中，水合度高的膜将质子从阴极侧泵出。这显着促进了用于阴极反应的界面质子扩散。因此，即使在低于PCFC的工作温度的温度下，HMFC仍可以高效率运行，并且将有助于改善在低于500°C的温度下质子氧化物燃料电池的发电性能。