Effect of Fabrication Processes on Electrochemical Performance of Metal-Supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Abstract

In this study, MSCs were fabricated on the sintered porous metal substrates by wet coating with high temperature sintering in reduced atmosphere. The electrochemical performance of MSCs strongly depended on the process conditions. The relationship between the electrochemical performance and the structural property were investigated. In order to obtain dense electrolyte, the shrinkage behavior of porous metal substrates is quite important. Large shrinkage of substrate can assist the densification of electrolyte in the sintering process. It was found that the degrease and sintering temperature affected the shrinkage behavior, and existence of H2O in the atmosphere also affect it. It was considered that the oxidation of metal particles in substrate affected on the shrinkage. When the sintering temperature were high to obtain the dense electrolyte, Fe and Cr diffused from the substrate to the anode layer. This metal elements diffusion strongly deteriorated the performance of the anode. When the MSCs are prepared by wet process with high temperature sintering, controlling the sintering behavior of all components by adjusting the process parameter was quite important to low polarization resistance.