Additive Manufacturing of Single-Layer Protonic Ceramic Fuel Cells

Abstract

Protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) or proton conducting solid oxide fuel cells (p-SOFCs) have been emerging as a potential low-temperature (400-600oC) fuel cell technology. Generally, the proton conducting ceramic electrolyte materials have a lower activation energy (< 50 eV) and lower electronic conductivity than the conventional oxygen-ion conducting ceramic materials, which are beneficial for improving the fuel cell efficiency and the power output. The additive manufacturing has the potential to transform the manufacturing of PCFCs since it can fabricate both the dense and porous structures with good mechanical and electrochemical properties. In this work, we fabricated single-layer PCFCs through a hybrid of extrusion-based 3D printing utilizing BaZr0.3Ce0.5Y0.15O3-δ and BaZr0.4Ce0.4Y0.1Yb0.1O3-δ as electrolytes, their composite with NiO as anode, and their composite with BaCo0.4Fe0.4Zr0.1Y0.1O3-δ and Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-δ as cathode. The rheological properties of the printable pastes were investigated in detail with the dynamic light scattering, viscometer, tensiometry, differential scanning calorimetry and thermal gravimetric analysis. Furthermore, the cells are characterized with current-voltage measurements and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. In addition, other spectroscopic and microscopic measurements (HR-TEM-EELS, SEM-EDX, XPS) were conducted to better understand the mechanisms in the cells. A systematic study was conducted to optimize the sintering temperature for optimal fuel cell performance. Finally, the degradation mechanisms in the cells were investigated in order to improve their stability.Dr. Asghar thanks Academy of Finland (Grant No. 13322738, 13329016, 13352669) for the financial support. Figure 1