Dry Surface Treatment Technology for the Design of the Anode Side of the Metal Support Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (MS-SOFC)

As an electrochemical energy conversion device, solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) has many advantages in energy conversion efficiency, fuel flexibility and environmental benefits. A typical high temperature SOFC possesses the advantages of high power density and high-grade waste heat production. However, high-temperature SOFC faces challenges in cost and long-term durability. Once the operating temperature of SOFC is effectively reduced, the fuel cell configuration anode supported can be changed to metal-supported SOFC (MS-SOFC). Alternative MS-SOFC designs have the advantages of low-cost material, robustness and convenient manufacturing. In the present work, the metal supported half-cell with ITM / protective layer / Ni-YSZ / YSZ / GDC configurations were elaborated. Three protective layers of Co, Ce/Co and GDC were compared in terms of preventing Cr diffusion. Reactive magnetron sputtering (RMS) was used to deposit the electrolyte and the barrier layer because it can easily achieve a dense adherent and thin film. Atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) was used to deposit the cermet Ni-YSZ anode layer to facilitate the formation of porous structures. The morphology, microstructure and chemical composition of MS-SOFC were characterized by SEM, XRD and EDX, respectively. Finally, its electrical characteristics were measurements by four probe electrical and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements.