Electrophoretically deposited thin film electrolyte for solid oxide fuel cell

Abstract

Thin films of 8 mol% yttria stabilised zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte have been deposited on non-conducting porous NiO–YSZ anode substrates using electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique. Deposition of such oxide particulates on non-conducting substrates is made possible by placing a conducting steel plate on the reverse side of the presintered porous substrates. Thickness of the substrates, onto which the deposition has been carried out, varied in the range 0·5–2·0 mm. Dense and uniform YSZ thin films (thickness: 5–20 μm) are obtained after being cofired at 1400°C for 6 h. The thickness of the deposited films is seemed to be increased with increasing porous substrate thickness. Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) performance is measured at 800°C using coupon cells with various anode thicknesses. While a peak power density of 1·41 W cm⁻² for the cells with minimum anode thickness of 0·5 mm is achieved, the cell performance decreases with anode thickness.

Keywords:

• Solid oxide fuel cell
• Zirconia electrolyte
• Non-conducting substrate

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge Director, CSIR-CGCRI for his kind permission to publish the work. One of the authors (DD) is thankful to Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), India, for providing Junior Research Fellowship. The authors are also grateful to Dr S. K. Panda for his useful comments.