3D Printing for Efficient Fabrication of Fuel Cells for Power Generation

能源一直是我们人类日常生活中不可或缺的一部分，而燃料电池作为一种发电手段正变得越来越重要。例如，固体氧化物燃料电池（SOFC）的工作原理与电池类似，除了SOFC完全由固体材料组成，而且有利的是，如果提供燃料，它们可以继续发电。（Burgher, 2015）在工业中，sofc是使用昂贵、耗时的多阶段工艺制造的；因此，我的建议是研究3D打印作为这种燃料电池的一种有前景的制造方法。它们的物理特性意味着3D打印燃料电池可能会更有效。这是一个新鲜而令人兴奋的领域，因为研究表明，增材制造技术，例如，在计算机辅助设计（CAD）的帮助下，可以通过将更小的元素组装在一起来生产3D结构：比传统的制造方法更快。（Hernández-Rodriguez等人，2014）制造将在一个小的实验室规模开始，目的是详细说明如何将3D打印方法扩展到商业生产。当然，我们的目标是成功地详细描述一种比现有方法更有效的3D打印方法。我是这个博士学习机会的绝佳选择，因为我已经和我的导师陶博士建立了良好的工作关系。我在最后一年的“燃料电池和能源存储”模块（ES96X）中也取得了93%的成绩；这个模块让我对燃料电池和电池有了很强的背景知识，也给了我追求这个机会的灵感。我的目标是在学位课程中就我的主题发表五篇学术论文，我相信我学习燃料电池和能源存储的激情、纪律和毅力将帮助我完成这个学位。

Power has always been an integral part of our daily lives as human beings, and, fuel cells are becoming increasingly important as a means of power generation. The solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) for example, operates similarly to a battery, except, SOFCs consist solely of solid materials and, advantageously, can continue to generate electricity if they are supplied with fuel. (Burgher, 2015)In industry, SOFCs are manufactured using an expensive, time consuming multi-stage process; therefore, my proposal is to research 3D printing as a prospective manufacturing method for such fuel cells. Their physical characteristics mean that it may be more efficient to 3D print the fuel cells. This is a fresh and exciting area as research has shown that additive fabrication technology, for example, aided by computer aided design (CAD), can be used to produce 3D structures by assembling smaller elements together: faster than conventional fabrication methods. (Hernández-Rodriguez et al., 2014) The fabrication would begin on a small laboratory scale, with the aim of detailing how the 3D printing method can be scaled for commercial production. The goal, of course would be to successfully detail a 3D printing method which is more efficient than the current methods. I am an excellent choice for this PhD studentship opportunity as I have already developed a good working relationship with one of my proposed supervisors, Dr Tao. I also scored 93% in my final year 'Fuel Cells and Energy Storage' module (ES96X); this module has lent me a strong background knowledge on fuels cells and batteries as well as the inspiration to pursue this opportunity. My target outcome is to produce five academic papers on my topic over the course of the degree and I believe that the passion, discipline and perseverance, with which I studied Fuel Cells and Energy Storage will see me through this degree.