Fabrication of anode-supported protonic ceramic fuel cell with Ba(Zr0.85Y0.15)O3−δ–Ba(Ce0.9Y0.1)O3−δ dual-layer electrolyte

We fabricated a uniquely designed anode-supported-type protonic ceramic fuel cell (PCFC) with a dual-electrolyte layer containing BaCe0.9Y0.1O3−δ (BCY) as the higher-proton-conducting phase and BaZr0.85Y0.15O3−δ (BZY) as the chemically stable protecting phase. In order to overcome the poor sinterability of the BZY electrolytes, which is a critical limitation in making thin and dense dual-electrolyte layers for anode-supported PCFCs, we employed aid-assisted enhanced sintering of BZY by adding 1 mol% of CuO. We also promoted the densification of the BZY layer by utilizing the higher sinterability of BCY that is attached to the top of the BZY layer. By properly adjusting the shrinkage behaviors of both the anode substrate and the dual-electrolyte layers, we were able to fabricate a fairly dense BZY/BCY dual-layer electrolyte with a thickness of less than 20 μm. In this paper, the novel strategies used to fabricate the PCFC based on dual-electrolyte layers are reported.