Effects of anode surface modification on the performance of low temperature SOFCs

An anode functional layer (AFL, ~5 μm) for improving the cell performance was fabricated by the slurry spin coating method on the porous surface of an anode substrate. The effects of the AFL on the anode/electrolyte interfacial morphology and the Sm0.2Ce0.8O1.9 (SDC) film deposition process were evaluated. And the electrochemical characteristics of the cells with and without the AFL were tested for comparison. With the AFL layer, the cell performance was greatly improved and the maximum power density was increased from 0.733 to 0.884 W cm−2 at 600 °C and from 1.085 to 1.213 W cm−2 at 650 °C. The systematical analysis indicated that the AFL could effectively reduce the anode polarization loss by increasing the three-phase boundary (TPB) length.