Preparation of dual-pore anode supported Sc2O3-stabilized-ZrO2 electrolyte planar solid oxide fuel cell by phase-inversion and dip-coating

Abstract

In this paper, we report a dual-pore anode supported Sc2O3-stabilized-ZrO2 (ScSZ) electrolyte planar SOFC with the cell configuration of Ni-YSZ|Ni-ScSZ|ScSZ|LSM-ScSZ|LSM prepared by a combination of phase-inversion and dip-coating. The Ni-YSZ anode substrate is fabricated by phase-inversion, exhibiting an asymmetric dual-pore structure. A Ni-ScSZ anode functional layer (AFL) is introduced between the ScSZ electrolyte and the Ni-YSZ anode substrate by dip-coating, a process aims at increasing the three-phase boundaries at the anode/electrolyte interface. A single cell with this unique anode structure is successfully fabricated, demonstrating maximum power densities of 0.76, 1.04, 1.32 and 1.97 W cm−2 at 650, 700, 750, and 800 °C, respectively, with humidified (3vol% H2O) hydrogen as the fuel and oxygen as the oxidant. The microstructure morphologies of the SOFC are examined by SEM and comparisons of gas permeability for dual-pore and conventional anodes are also investigated.