Thermal cycle development of PMMA pore former removal for honeycomb-type SOFC supports

Heating schedules of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) pore former removal are developed to fabricate anode-supported, honeycomb-type, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) without any defects. The cycles are determined for the thermal removal of polymeric pore former and binder from open-pore, green ceramic components. The samples consist of a honeycomb-shaped green body composed of Ni/YSZ as the anode support, PMMA beads as the pore former, and methylcellulose as the binder. The kinetic parameters of the PMMA decomposition, the gas permeability in the body, and the failure conditions during heating are determined both experimentally and by modeling. The results of these measurements and approximations are incorporated into a variational calculus algorithm for predicting the minimum time heating cycle (MTHC).