Fabrication and characterization of low-temperature SOFC stack based on GDC electrolyte membrane

A novel low-temperature anode-supported cone-shaped tubular solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and segmented-in-series (SIS) SOFC stack based on gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC) membrane which is fabricated by dip coating technique are developed in this study. The single cell, NiO–GDC/GDC (15 μm)/BSCF–GDC, shows an open-circuit voltage (OCV) of 0.90 V at 400 °C and exhibits maximum power densities of 17, 49, 129, 268 and 429 mW cm−2 at 400, 450, 500, 550 and 600 °C, respectively, using moist hydrogen (50 ml min−1) as fuel and ambient air as oxidant. A two-cell-stack based on the above-mentioned cone-shaped tubular anode-supported SOFC is fabricated. And its typical operating characteristics are investigated. The results show that the two-cell-stack presents an open circuit voltage (OCV) of about 1.86 V at 400 °C and an output power of 0.55 W (at 0.4 A and 1.4 V) at 550 °C. This indicates that the anode-supported cone-shaped tubular SIS-SOFC stack based on GDC membrane is highly promising for low temperature SOFC of portable applications.