A Flexible Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Supported on the Thin Porous Metal

Abstract

Metal-supported SOFCs are very attractive due to their high mechanical strength, thermal conductivity, and low material cost. These properties make SOFCs suitable for mobile application as well as the traditional stationary application. Contrary to many researches, using the thin-metal support will be more suitable for potable application because it provides the cell with flexibility, light weight, and good stacking property. In this study, thin metal-supported SOFC (~100μm) was fabricated and tested. Green sheets of thin STS support, Ni-YSZ anode, and YSZ electrolyte were prepared by tape casting method in order to fabricate the single cell. Three tapes were laminated and co-fired at 1300oC in reducing atmosphere. Microstructure of 3-layered cell was examined and the performance was tested with a LSCF cathode at 800oC. Thin and strong metal-supported SOFC was successfully fabricated by co-firing process. Total thickness of the sintered cell was ~80μm. This thin cell showed flexible nature and was easily bent without visible cracks on the electrolyte. The Cr-poisoning of Ni in the anode was occurred during sintering at high temperature, which could lower the cell performance. Cr diffusion barrier may be used in order to enhance the cell performance.

Recent Advances and Challenges in Thin-Film Fabrication Techniques for Low-Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

“…Despite great developments of metal-supported SOFCs in recent years, they are still short of full commercial utilisation. Challenges such as the interdiffusion of active catalyst materials with the supporting metal substrates commonly result in a high level of performance degradation during loge-term operations [111]. Studies to mitigate such degradations are currently an active area of research.…”

Trends in the processing and manufacture of solid oxide fuel cells

“…In addition to these processing challenges, metal supported cells can also be susceptible to inter diffusion of catalyst and support structures during operation leading to degradation, with investigation of potential solutions to these issues an important area of work. 27 Tubular cells were the first significant iteration of SOFCs scale-up with the large Siemens Westinghouse tubes in the late 1980s and 1990s with tube lengths of the order of 2 m and designed for larger pressurized systems in the hundreds of kilowatt range, shown in Figure 3(a). 28 Although over intervening years planar systems have become the most common design due to the potential for high volumetric power densities in stacks, there has been continued development effort in tubular.…”

“…This is similar to that discussed later in this review, allowing lower temperature formation of the desired catalyst phases. In addition to these processing challenges, metal supported cells can also be susceptible to inter diffusion of catalyst and support structures during operation leading to degradation, with investigation of potential solutions to these issues an important area of work …”

Characterization of thin metal‐supported solid oxide fuel cells fabricated through atmospheric Plasma spraying

“…To use MS-SOFCs in mobile applications, their thermal mass must be reduced to enable rapid start-up. Thin MS-SOFCs are suitable for portable applications because they are lightweight and mechanically flexible, which enables them to be easily stacked [20]. The present study produced thin and flexible MS-SOFCs with an La 0.8 Sr 0.2 Ga 0.8 Mg 0.2 O 3-δ (LSGM) electrolyte layer by using atmospheric plasma spraying (APS); the study subsequently evaluated the performance and durability of these cells.…”

“…APS enables a more rapid SOFC functional layer fabrication process than do other deposition processes such as chemical vapor deposition, the sol-gel method, tape casting, screen printing, and physical vapor deposition [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. APS enables the reduction of unfavorable interactions between SOFC layers during conventional high-temperature sintering processes, such as the interaction between the Fe-Cr layer or LSGM electrolyte layer and the Ni in the anode layer [20,30]. Interdiffusion can cause many detrimental effects to the metal support and anode layer.…”