Fabrication and characterization of the anode-supported solid oxide fuel cell with Ni current collector layer

Abstract

The anode-supported solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is constructed by a screen-printed double-layer cathode, an air-tight yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) as electrolyte, and a porous Ni-YSZ as anode substrate. A thin Ni film is fabricated as an anode current collector layer to improve the performance of the SOFC. The operation parameters are systematically investigated, such as feed rates of the reactants, operation temperature, contact pressure between current collectors and unit cell on the cell performance. The SEM results show that the YSZ thin film is fully dense with a thickness of 8 µm and exhibits the good compatibility between cathode and electrolyte layers. The maximum power density of the cell with Ni current collector layer is 366 mW cm−2 at 800°C. This value is approximately 1.3 times higher than that of the cell without Ni layer. According to the electrochemical results, the Ni current collector layer decreases the ohmic and polarization resistances. The contact pressure results between cell and test housing show that cell performance efficiency is enhanced at the high current density region.