Effect of non-solvent from the phase inversion method on the morphology and performance of the anode supported microtubular solid oxide fuel cells

Abstract

The microstructure of the anode in anode-supported solid oxide fuel cells has significant influence on the cell performance. In this work, microtubular Ni-yttria stabilized zircona (Zr0.8 Y0.2O2, YSZ) anode support has been prepared by the phase inversion method. Different compositions of non-solvent have been used for the fabrication of the Ni-YSZ anode support, and the correlation between non-solvent composition and characteristics of the microstructure of the anode support has been investigated. The presence of ethanol or isopropanol in the non-solvent can inhibit the growth of the finger-like pores in the anode support. With the increase of the concentration of ethanol or isopropanol in the non-solvent, a thin dense layer can be observed on the top of the prepared tubular anode support. In addition, the mechanism of pore formation is explained based on the inter-diffusivity between the solvent and the non-solvent. The prepared microtubular solid oxide fuel cells (MT-SOFCs) have been tested, and the influence of the anode microstructure on the cell electrochemical performance is analyzed based on a polarization model.