Properties of bias-assisted sputtered gadolinia-doped ceria interlayers for solid oxide fuel cells

The growth and electrochemical properties of gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC) inlet layers deposited by bias-assisted magnetron sputtering in solid oxide fuel cells have been investigated Such interlayers act as diffusion barriers to protect the yttria-stabilized zirconia electrolyte. preventing possible degradation when mixed ionic-electronic conductor (La,Si)(Co,Fe)O(3-delta) is used as the cathode The dependence of the applied bias during the sputtering deposition on both the interlayer microstructure and fuel cell performance has been studied in anode-supported single cells. The main experimental results Showed that bias-assisted sputtering of GDC interlayers produced microstructures denser than those of unbiased deposit ions, which resulted in increased electrochemical properties of fuel cells (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved