3D printing of porous zirconia support for solid oxide fuel cells with high cell performance

Abstract

This work reports the preparation and characterization of a 3D-printed porous 3 mol% yttria-stabilized zirconia (3YSZ) inert-supported micro-tubular solid oxide fuel cell (MT-SOFC) with high cell performance. For the first time, the impacts of pore-former particle size and mass fraction on the microstructure of 3D-printed porous 3YSZ, along with the influences of debinding atmosphere and pre-sintering temperature on the flexural strength and the shrinkage rate, were comprehensively explored. Optimal results were achieved using a particle size of 3 μm and a mass fraction of 30 wt%, facilitating the preparation of a printable 3YSZ photocurable slurry with a relatively low apparent viscosity of 4.2 Pa s at a shear rate of 30 s−1. Notably, 3D-printed porous 3YSZ debound in nitrogen and sintered in air at 1400 °C exhibited the highest flexural strength of ∼80.2 MPa compared to debinding in air or vacuum. Based on flexural strength and shrinkage rate considerations, the 3D-printed porous 3YSZ debound in nitrogen and pre-sintered at 1150 °C was deemed suitable as an inert support for SOFC. Cells prepared using this optimized approach demonstrated exceptional performance, achieving a maximum power density of 876.8 mW cm−2 at 850 °C, surpassing inert-supported MT-SOFCs fabricated using traditional methods. The outstanding cell performance underscores the successful application of 3D printing technology in preparing porous 3YSZ inert supports for SOFCs, offering an attractive approach for cell preparation and porous ceramics.