Aerosol Deposition of Thin-Film Single- and Bi-layered Solid Electrolytes for Intermediate Temperature Planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Abstract

The aerosol deposition (AD) method is a technique for the formation of thin and thick, gas-tight, and porous layers by deposition of microscopic powder particles. In the present work, the AD was used to deposit thin-film electrolyte and protective buffer layers for planar anode-supported solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The high quality of deposited layers was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, as well as electrochemical measurements, including the measurements of current-voltage characteristics and impedance spectroscopy. At working temperature of 800°C the anode-supported cell with bi-layered electrolyte deposited by AD demonstrated the open-circuit voltage of more than 1.04 V, as well as specific power of more than 780 mW/cm2. The difficulties, advantages, and peculiarities associated with the formation of thin-film electrolyte and buffer layers of SOFCs by the AD method have been discussed.