Influence of NiO to SDC ratio on the properties of Ni-SDC cermet prepared via reduction process

Abstract

This works presents the preparation of Ni-Ce0.8Sm0.2O1.9 (Ni-SDC) ceramic-metal from reduction of NiO-Ce0.8Sm0.2O1.9 (NiO-SDC) ceramics for application of solid oxide fuel cell. NiO-SDC powder with different weight percentage of NiO and SDC (100% NiO + 0% SDC), (80% NiO + 20% SDC), (70% NiO + 30% SDC) and (60% NiO + 40% SDC) was pelletized and sintered at 1400 °C for 4 hours. Then, pellet samples were undergone reduction process using mixed gas of hydrogen and nitrogen gas with concentration of 40% H2 and 60% N2 at 800 °C for 2 h. Phase analysis was done using X-ray Diffraction and it was found that for all samples, NiO was completely reduced to Ni, meanwhile SDC was remained in its phase. The density of the samples decreased after reduction, results in more porous samples were obtained. It was found that increasing NiO content lead to sample with higher porosity. The surface morphology of the samples was observed by using the Scanning Electron Microscopy.