Performance of anode-supported SOFCs fabricated with EPD techniques

Electrolyte films of scandia-stabilized zirconia (ScSZ) on NiO–ScSZ anode substrates with ca. 16 mm in diameter were successfully fabricated with electrophoretic deposition (EPD) techniques and subsequent co-firing processes. Obtained ScSZ films were 5 to 8 μm thick and were dense enough as solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) electrolyte. Results of single-cell tests with lanthanum strontium manganite (LSM) cathode revealed the following: (1) the observed open circuit voltage (OCV) values confirmed the ScSZ film to be dense enough as SOFC electrolyte and (2) the anode ohmic and polarization losses did not change at fuel utilizations from 15% to 81%, indicating that the anode microstructure is well fabricated. Furthermore, no degradation in cell performance was observed over 50 h at the 80% fuel utilization. The power densities at a constant potential of 500 mV vs. OCV were 525 and 440 mW/cm2 at 1073 and 1023 K, respectively, at low (15%) fuel utilization.