Fabrication of NiO/YSZ-Based Anodes for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells by Hybrid 3D Inkjet Printing and Laser Treatment

Abstract

An anode for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) was fabricated using 3D inkjet printing and layer-by-layer laser treatment of compositions based on the NiO/YSZ system followed by thermal sintering. The samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray phase analysis. The study of the morphology of the as-prepared samples revealed the presence of both interlayer macroporosity and intralayer microporosity, which depends on the laser exposure during laser treatment. The use of graphite directly added to the printing composition as the pore former increased the intralayer porosity. The morphology and size of the pores were shown to be similar to those of the pore former. The microstructure and porosity of the anode support can be controlled by varying the laser exposure values and the graphite content of the ceramic composite, which in turn opens up great prospects for using these paste compositions and printing techniques for the manufacture of SOFC anode supports.

An Anode-Supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) Half-Cell Fabricated by Hybrid 3D Inkjet Printing and Laser Treatment

“…Analysis of the percentile values D75 showed (Figure 2b) that the optimum milling and homogenization time of the NiO/10YSZ composite (60:40) is 1 h. A further increase in the milling time almost does not affect the average particle size. In our earlier study [35], it was shown that the introduction of a pore former is required to achieve the optimum porosity of the anode support. Figure 3 shows the dependence of the dynamic viscosity on the shear rate for an organic binder and for pastes in the absence and the presence of the pore-former graphite (20 wt.%).…”

“…To print NiO/YSZ anodes, a hybrid laboratory inkjet 3D printer with the possibility of laser post-treatment of layers was used, which can use various dispensing systems for low-viscosity and high-viscosity compositions to control the layer thickness and shape of the final sample [35]. All experiments on printing were carried out using a pneumatic pulse valve with a nozzle diameter of 0.25 mm (Nordson Corporation, Erkrath, Germany; Westlake, OH, USA).…”

“…The printing of NiO/10YSZ (60:40 wt%) anode support, NiO/10YSZ (40:60 wt%) anode functional layer, and 10YSZ electrolyte was carried out using a hybrid laboratory inkjet 3D printer with the option of laser post-treatment of the layers according to the published procedure [35,36]. For joint sintering of the anode and electrolyte layers, a modified co-firing technique was used, which allows a temperature gradient inside the sample to be eliminated and controls the shrinkage of the individual layers.…”