Effects on microstructure of NiO–YSZ anode support fabricated by phase-inversion method

NiO–YSZ anode supports with different microstructures have been successfully prepared through a phase-inversion method. The effect of non-solvent, precipitation time and polyethersulfone (PESf) concentration on the microstructure development of NiO–YSZ anode support has been investigated. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results of NiO–YSZ anode support show that four types of microstructures have been achieved using different non-solvent. The difference in solubility parameters between solvent and non-solvent can greatly influence the microstructure. Further, it is observed that the precipitation time will affect the formation of macro-voids in the anode support, and higher PESf concentration in the slurry will suppress the formation of macro-voids. In addition, planar NiO–YSZ anode-supported solid oxide fuel cells with four types of anode microstructures have been fabricated and tested. The correlation between the electrochemical performance of all the prepared anode materials and microstructure of these cells has been discussed.