Investigation of Single-step Fabrication of a Cathode-supported Planar Single-chamber Solid Oxide Fuel Cell and Its Performance

Year 2024, , 259 - 276, 24.03.2024

Yunus Sayan , Jung-sik Kim , Houzheng Wu

https://doi.org/10.17798/bitlisfen.1383875

Abstract

This study presents a cathode-supported planar solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) fabrication made via a single step co-sintering method and investigation of its performance. The materials used are NiO-CGO, CGO and CGO-LSCF for anode, cathode, electrolyte, respectively. Our study shows that increasing the cell size has a detrimental effect on cell single step co-sinterability. Increasing cathode thickness and reducing electrolyte thickness led to curvature decrease at the edges, however these adjustments were not enough to achieve a curvature-free cathode-supported cell. Thus, three porous alumina cover plates (total mass of 49.35 g) placed on the top of the cell during sintering were utilized to suppress curvature formation, and as a result, a nearly curvature- free cathode-supported cell was obtained. Performance of the cells were investigated. The results showed that increasing cathode thickness and decreasing electrolyte thickness had negative effects on cell performance despite enhanced single step co-sinterability of the cell. The maximum power density and OCV of the final planar cell (thickness 60-40-800 µm, anode-electrolyte-cathode) were found to be 1.71 mW cm-2 and 0.2 V, respectively, in a fuel rich condition (R:1.6). Additionally, the maximum OCV and power density among the all cells were measured from the cell (thickness 60-40-400 µm, anode-electrolyte-cathode) as 0.56 V and 24.79 mW cm-2, respectively, in a fuel rich condition (R:2.4).

Keywords

Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), Co-sintering, Cell manufacturing, Cell performance, Cell microstructure

References

• [1] M. Kuhn and T. W. Napporn, “Single-chamber solid oxide fuel cell technology – from its origins to today’s state of the art,” Energies, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 57–134, 2010.
• [2] T. Hibino, A. Hashimoto, T. Inoue, J. Tokuno, S. Yoshida, and M. Sano, “Single-chamber solid oxide fuel cells at ıntermediate temperatures with various hydrocarbon-air mixtures,” Journal of The Electrochemical Society, vol. 147, no. 8, pp. 2888–2892, 2000.
• [3] M. Yano, A. Tomita, M. Sano, and T. Hibino, “Recent advances in single-chamber solid oxide fuel cells: A review,” Solid State Ionics, vol. 177, no. 39–40, pp. 3351–3359, 2007.
• [4] T. Suzuki, P. Jasinski, V. Petrovsky, H. U. Anderson, and F. Dogan, “Anode supported single chamber solid oxide fuel cell in CH4-air mixture,” Journal of The Electrochemical Society, vol. 151, no. 9, pp. A1473–A1476, 2004.
• [5] M. Liu and Z. Lü, “Effect of stack configurations on single chamber solid oxide fuel cell, anode-cathode, anode-anode, and cathode-cathode configuration,” Electrochimica Acta, vol. 104, pp. 64–68, 2013.
• [6] W. Z. Zhu and S. C. Deevi, “A review on the status of anode materials for solid oxide fuel cells,” Materials Science and Engineering A, vol. 362, no. 1–2, pp. 228–239, 2003.
• [7] A. Faes, A. Hessler-Wyser, A. Zryd, and J. Van Herle, “A review of redox cycling of solid oxide fuel cells anode.,” Membranes, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 585–664, 2012.
• [8] K. Huang, A. Zampieri, and M. Ise, “Cathode polarizations of a cathode-supported solid oxide fuel cell,” Journal of The Electrochemical Society, vol. 157, no. 10, p. B1471, 2010.
• [9] R. K. Bordia and E. A. Olevsky, Advences in sintering science and technology. California: John Wiley & Sons, 2009.
• [10] L. C. De Jonghe and M. N. Rahaman, “Sintering of ceramics,” in Handbook of advanced ceramics, S. Somiya, F. Aldinger, R. M. Spriggs, K. Uchino, K. Koumoto, and M. Kaneno, Eds. San Diego, California: Elsevier, 2003, pp. 187–264.
• [11] M. N. Rahaman, “Sintering and microsturcture development,” in Ceramic processing, Florida: Taylor&Francis Group, 2007, pp. 365–441.
• [12] S. C. Singhal and K. Kendall, High temperature solid oxide fuel cells:Fundementals, design and applications. Oxford: Elsevier Advanced Technology, 2003.
• [13] A. Hagen, R. B. Menon, P. V. Hendriksen, S. Ramousse, and P. H. Larsen, “Properties and performance of SOFCs produced on a pre-pilot plant scale,” Fuel Cells, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 146–150, 2006.
• [14] H. Wang, Z. Gao, and S. A. Barnett, “Anode-supported solid oxide fuel cells fabricated by single step reduced-temperature co-firing,” Journal of The Electrochemical Society, vol. 163, no. 3, pp. F196–F201, 2016.
• [15] J. H. Myung, H. J. Ko, C. H. Im, J. Moon, and S. H. Hyun, “Development of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) by tape-casting and single-step co-firing of monolithic laminates,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 39, no. 5, pp. 2313–2319, 2014.
• [16] G. Ye, F. Ju, C. Lin, S. Gopalan, and U. Pal, “Single-step co-firing technique for SOFC fabrication,” in Advences in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, N. P. Bansal, D. Zhu, and W. M. Kriven, Eds. Florida: The American ceramic Society, 2005, pp. 25–32.
• [17] “Maryland Tape Casting.” [Online]. Available: http://www.marylandtapecasting.com/.
• [18] Y. Sayan, V. Venkatesan, E. Guk, H. Wu, and J. S. Kim, “Single-step fabrication of an anode supported planar single-chamber solid oxide fuel cell,” International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology, vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 1375–1387, 2018.
• [19] Y.-G. Choi et al., “Ceria-based electrolyte reinforced by sol–gel technique for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 38, no. 23, pp. 9867–9872, 2013.
• [20] C. Montgkolkachit and S. Wanakitti, “Characterization of (La,Sr)(Co,Fe)O3-δ ferrite-based cathodes for ıntermediate-temperature SOFCs,” Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 33–36, 2008.
• [21] Y. Tian et al., “Effect of gas supply method on the performance of the single-chamber SOFC micro-stack and the single cells,” Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 269–275, 2013.
• [22] I. Riess, “On the single chamber solid oxide fuel cells,” Journal of Power Sources, vol. 175, no. 1, pp. 325–337, 2008.
• [23] P. Briault, M. Rieu, R. Laucournet, B. Morel, and J.-P. Viricelle, “Anode supported single chamber solid oxide fuel cells operating in exhaust gases of thermal engine,” Journal of Power Sources, vol. 268, pp. 356–364, 2014.
• [24] C. Sun, R. Hui, and J. Roller, “Cathode materials for solid oxide fuel cells: a review,” Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry, vol. 14, no. 7, pp. 1125–1144, 2009.
• [25] J. C. F. II and S. S. C. Chuang, “Investigating the CH 4 reaction pathway on a novel LSCF anode catalyst in the SOFC,” Catalysis Communications, vol. 10, no. 6, pp. 772–776, 2009.
• [26] Y. Hao, Z. Shao, J. Mederos, W. Lai, D. G. Goodwin, and S. M. Haile, “Recent advances in single-chamber fuel-cells: Experiment and modeling,” Solid State Ionics, vol. 177, no. 19–25, pp. 2013–2021, 2006.
• [27] J. Viricelle, S. Udroiu, G. Gadacz, M. Pijolat, and C. Pijolat, “Development of single chamber solid oxide fuel cells ( SCFC ),” no. 4, pp. 683–692, 2010.
• [28] R. M. Ormerod, “Solid oxide fuel cells,” Chemical Society Reviews, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 17–28, 2003.
• [29] Y. Leng, S. H. Chan, and Q. Liu, “Development of LSCF-GDC composite cathodes for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells with thin film GDC electrolyte,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 33, no. 14, pp. 3808–3817, 2008.
• [30] C. Zhang, Y. Lin, R. Ran, and Z. Shao, “Improving single-chamber performance of an anode-supported SOFC by impregnating anode with active nickel catalyst,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 35, no. 15, pp. 8171–8176, 2010.
• [31] M. Liu, M. Liu, D. Ding, K. Blinn, X. Li, and L. Nie, “Enhanced performance of LSCF cathode through surface modification,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 37, no. 10, pp. 8613–8620, 2012.
• [32] C. Ding et al., “Effect of thickness of Gd0.1Ce0.9O1.95 electrolyte films on electrical performance of anode-supported solid oxide fuel cells,” Journal of Power Sources, vol. 195, no. 17, pp. 5487–5492, 2010.
• [33] E. Bucher and W. Sitte, “Long-term stability of the oxygen exchange properties of (La,Sr)1 − z(Co,Fe)O3 − δ in dry and wet atmospheres,” Solid State Ionics, vol. 192, no. 1, pp. 480–482, 2011.
• [34] E. Bucher, W. Sitte, F. Klauser, and E. Bertel, “Impact of humid atmospheres on oxygen exchange properties, surface-near elemental composition, and surface morphology of La0.6Sr0.4CoO3 - δ,” Solid State Ionics, vol. 208, pp. 43–51, 2012.
• [35] E. Bucher and W. Sitte, “Defect chemical modeling of (La, Sr)(Co, Fe)O3 - δ,” Journal of Electroceramics, vol. 13, no. 1–3, pp. 779–784, 2004.
• [36] Z. Yang, M. Guo, N. Wang, C. Ma, J. Wang, and M. Han, “A short review of cathode poisoning and corrosion in solid oxide fuel cell,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 42, no. 39, pp. 24948–24959, 2017.
• [37] Z. Zhao et al., “High and low temperature behaviors of La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ cathode operating under CO2/H2O-containing atmosphere,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 38, no. 35, pp. 15361–15370, 2013.
• [38] J. Hayd, L. Dieterle, U. Guntow, D. Gerthsen, and E. Ivers-Tiffée, “Nanoscaled La0.6Sr0.4CoO3-δ as intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell cathode: Microstructure and electrochemical performance,” Journal of Power Sources, vol. 196, no. 17, pp. 7263–7270, 2011.
• [39] R. R. Liu et al., “Influence of water vapor on long-term performance and accelerated degradation of solid oxide fuel cell cathodes,” Journal of Power Sources, vol. 196, no. 17, pp. 7090–7096, 2011.
• [40] Z. H. Wang et al., “Redox tolerance of thin and thick Ni/YSZ anodes of electrolyte-supported single-chamber solid oxide fuel cells under methane oxidation conditions,” Fuel Cells, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 1109–1115, 2013.