High Performance Single Step Co-Fired Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Abstract

AbstractAnode-supported planar solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) was successfully fabricated by a single step co-firing process. The cell comprised of a Ni + yittria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) anode, a YSZ electrolyte, a Ca-doped LaMnO3 (LCM) + YSZ cathode active layer, and an LCM cathode current collector layer. The fabrication process involved tape casting of the anode, screen printing of the electrolyte and the cathode, and single step co-firing of the green-state cells at 1300°C for 2 hours. The maximum power densities were 1.50W/cm2 at 800°C, and 0.87W/cm2 at 700°C with humidified hydrogen (97% H2-3% H2O) as fuel and air as oxidant. The experimentally measured I-V curves were fitted into a polarization model to obtain cell parameters including the area specific ohmic resistance, exchange current density, effective binary diffusivity of hydrogen and water vapor in the anode, and that of oxygen and nitrogen in the cathode. The cell was also tested at 800°C with various compositions of humidified hydrogen to evaluate the cell performance at high fuel utilization, and the maximum power densities were 1.30W/cm2 with 75.7% H2-24.3% H2O, 0.94W/cm2 with 49.4% H2-50.6% H2O, and 0.49W/cm2 with 27.3% H2-70.7% H2O.