Novel compressive seals for solid oxide fuel cells

Traditional seals for planar solid oxide fuel cells (pSOFCs) are rigid glass and glass–ceramic, which have caused the problem of being unable to replace malfunctioning components. Non-glass sealants have become a recent trend. In this paper, fumed silica-infiltrated alumina–silica fiber paper gaskets were investigated as a novel compressive seal for planar solid oxide fuel cells. The leak rates decreased with increase of the silica-infiltration amount and the compressive load. Samples pre-stressed at 10 MPa indicated far superior sealing characteristics, with leak rates as low as 0.04 sccm cm−1 at a 1 MPa compressive stress and a 10 kPa pressure gradient, and 0.05 sccm cm−1 for 0.05 MPa, and a 1.4 kPa pressure gradient.