Development of Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Composed of Ni-YSZ Supported SSZ Electrolyte Film and Cobaltite Electrodes for Reduced-Temperature Operating

Tubular solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) composed of Ni- yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) supported scandia-stabilized zirconia (SSZ) electrolyte film, doped ceria interlayer and strontium-doped cobaltite electrodes were successfully developed for reduced-temperature operation. The SOFCs were fabricated by adopting a slurry coating technique, which allows to prepare a ceramic layer with a thickness varied between 1 ~ ca. 150 µm, and a co-fire process. The fabrication process was investigated in detail for realizing low cost SOFCs with high degree of straight, round, high reproductive quality, and high electrochemical performance. Flawless dense electrolyte thin film less than 10 µm was achieved on porous tubular Ni-YSZ substrate with the thickness that is thicker than 500 µm. Primary results of electrochemical performance test showed that the a fabricated cells with a (Sm0.6Sr0.4)CoO3 electrode could produce ca. 0.4 W cm-2 of power density at H2 utilization of 60 % at 800°C