Miniature environmental chamber enabling in situ scanning probe microscopy within reactive environments

Developments in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) continue to be one of the most intensely studied areas involving energy-producing systems, in an attempt to partially alleviate rapidly growing energy concerns. Direct, experimental observation of the governing electrochemical processes have remained largely elusive, due to high operating temperatures in the range of 400 °C–1000 °C. Here we outline the design and development of a miniature environmental chamber that enables a standard atomic force microscopes access to realistic SOFC operating conditions (T = 600 °C) for direct interrogation of electrochemical phenomena within SOFC cross-sections.