Performance and impedance studies of thin, porous molybdenum and tungsten electrodes for the alkali metal thermoelectric converter

Abstract

Columnar, porous, magnetron-sputtered molybdenum and tungsten films show optinum performance as AMTEC electrodes at thicknesses less than 1.0 μm when used with molybdenum or nickel current collector grids. Power densities of 0.40 W cm−2 for 0.5 μm molybdenum films at 1200 K and 0.35 W cm−2 for 0.5 μm tungsten films at 1180 K were obtained at electrode maturity after 40–90 h. Sheet resistances of magnetron sputter deposited films on sodium beta″-alumina solid electrolyte (BASE) substrates were found to increase very steeply as thickness is decreased below about 0.3–0.4 μm. The a.c. impedance data for these electrodes have been interpreted in terms of contributions from the bulk BASE and the porous electrode/BASE interface. Voltage profiles of operating electrodes show that the total electrode area, of electrodes with thickness <2.0 μm, is not utilized efficiently unless a fairly fine (∼1×1mm) current collector grid is employed.