Fabrication and characteristics of anode-supported flat-tube solid oxide fuel cell

An anode-supported flat-tube solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is developed to increase the cell power density and thermal stability by combining tubular and planar cell structures. The anode-supported flat tube is fabricated by an extrusion process. The porosity and pore size of the Ni/YSZ (8 mol% yttria-stabilized zirconia) cermet anode are 50.6% and 0.23 μm, respectively. The Ni particles are distributed uniformly and are well connected to each other in the cermet. An electrolyte of YSZ and a multi-layered cathode of a (La0.85Sr0.15)0.9MnO3 (LSM)/YSZ composite, LSM, and La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3 (LSCF) are coated on the anode tube by slurry dip coating. The anode-supported flat-tube cell produces 225 mW cm−2 (0.6 V, 375 mA cm−2) at 750 °C. A ceramic interconnect for the cell stack, La0.75Ca0.27CrO3 (LCC), is synthesized by the Pechini method and is coated on the anode substrate by a plasma spray. A dense layer is obtained. A metallic interconnection plate of Fe–16Cr alloy is coated with LSM by a slurry dip coating process and sintered in a Ar+10% H2 atmosphere. The resistance of the LSM-coated alloy is 148 mΩ cm2 at 750 °C and decreases to 43 mΩ cm2 after 450 h.