Fabrication of Durable and High-Performance Flat Tubular Anode-Supported Solid Oxide Cells for Stack Application

Abstract

Solid oxide cell (SOC) technology is highly admissible for distributed power generation since it enables the most efficient and clean conversion of fuels into energy and heat. SOCs are also regarded as a potential technology for their decisive role in strengthening the hydrogen economy concept by storing renewable energy resources such as green hydrogen and synthetic fuels. In this work, high-performance and durable flat tubular anode-supported SOC is developed for SOC stack applications. NiO-8YSZ composite flat tubular anode support is fabricated by employing an extrusion process. Anode functional layer and electrolyte layers are deposited by the dip-coating technique, whereas the GDC diffusion barrier, LSCF-GDC composite cathode, and Ag-glass composite interconnect layers are fabricated by the conventional screen-printing process. Finally, the prepared flat tubular SOCs possess an active cathode area of 45 cm2 and demonstrated a high-power density of ~430 mW cm-2 at operating current density, voltage, and temperature conditions of 501 mA cm-2, 0.87 V, and 700 °C. During a long-term stability test at 700 °C for 1000 h, the SOC showed a voltage improvement of 0.013 % while operating at a fuel efficiency of 65%. The flat tubular anode-supported SOC’s high performance and durable operation showed its potential for commercial applications in distributed power generation and hydrogen production. Together with the research to further enhance the SOC’s performance and stability, the flat tubular SOC stack design and fabrication are also in progress.