(Digital Presentation) Facile Fabrication of Nickel and Sc-Doped Zirconia Cermet Electrode Thin Film on YSZ Substrate Via Screen-Printing for Solid Oxide Electrochemical Cells

Abstract

Electrode materials play a key role in the performance of solid oxide electrochemical cells. In this study, screen-printing was used to fabricate a porous nickel – scandia-stabilized zirconia (Ni-ScSZ) cermet electrode on a dense YSZ solid electrolyte substrate. The effect of sintering temperatures, 1200°C and 1300°C, on the structure and morphology of the deposited films were investigated. The screen-printed films were sintered and then reduced under an Ar/5% H2 gas environment at 700°C for 2h to form porous electrodes. The sintered films exhibited NiO and ScSZ cubic phases from X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. A desired porous morphology of NiO-ScSZ film sintered at 1200°C was achieved compared to a denser morphology sintered at 1300°C as revealed by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs. XRD patterns of reduced samples suggested a complete reduction of cubic NiO to Ni with an increase in porosity as observed from SEM micrographs.