Fabrication and characterization of micro tubular SOFCs for operation in the intermediate temperature

Tubular SOFC systems appear to be well-suited to accommodate repeated cycling under rapid changes in electrical load and in cell operating temperatures. Our goal is to develop innovative processing method to fabricate new micro tubular SOFCs with sub-millimeter diameter and its stack module which enable to generate high volumetric power density. In this study, micro tubular SOFCs under 1 mm diameter have been successfully fabricated and tested in the intermediate temperature region (550 °C or under). The cell consists of NiO–Gd doped ceria (GDC) as an anode (support tube), GDC as an electrolyte and (La, Sr)(Fe, Co)O3 (LSCF)–GDC as a cathode. The single tubular cell with 0.8 mm diameter and 12 mm length generated over 70 mW at 550 °C with H2 fuel, which indicates that the cell generated over 0.3 W cm−2 at 550 °C.