Frantcevych Institute for Problems od Materials Science (IPMS)

Institute of Problems of Materials Science (IPMS), Kyiv, Ukraine, is a leading Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine founded in 1955 with approx. 1700 employees includ-ing around 70 Dr.Sci. and 350 Ph.D. IPMS has few analogues among world scientific and re-search centres due to the great variety of new developments in technology of advanced materials. IPMS is working in the synthesis of new oxide powders and ceramics, sintered metallic materials and technologies, which are important for SOFC. IPMS possesses a well-equipped electron beam analysis and mechanical tests laboratories for materials testing and characterisation as well as equipment and skilled personnel for production of films of ceramic materials with screen printing and electron beam deposition. SOFC and related technologies are amongst the main research top-ics with an involvement of approx. 600 person-years. The SOFC research group under Prof. O. Vasylyev, who is a Leading Researcher and Deputy Head of the Department of Physics of Strength and Plasticity of Materials, is the initiator of the new fuel cell activities in the Ukraine. IPMS has a broad experience in characterisation, processing and investigation of structural and mechanical properties of multifunctional ceramic composites and advanced materials. In coop-eration with Vilnohirs’k Mining & Metallurgical Plant, the main producer of zirconia materials in the FSU, they have developed new zirconia powders stabilised with different stabilisers meet-ing high demands on advanced zirconia materials suitable for production of zirconia ceramic fuel cells. They were the first to develop and demonstrate SOFCs in the Ukraine as well as having developed the all Ukrainian “Fuel Cells” program that targets the fuel cells development mainly for residential and automotive application to be based on Ukrainian natural resources like zircon-sand and rare-earth elements.