Highly Dispersed Ni over a YSZ Anode Anchored by SiO2 at High Temperature through Low-Temperature Chemical Vapor Deposition

Supported Ni on yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is themost widelyused anode for a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), where Ni particlesare easy to agglomerate at a high temperature of 1400 & DEG;C andreductive hydrothermal environments. In this study, Ni particles aresuccessfully dispersed on YSZ through strong interaction between Niand SiO2. The thin and amorphous SiO2 films,grown by low-temperature chemical vapor deposition (CVD), become sphericalparticles of nickel silicates uniformly dispersed on the YSZ skeletonafter sintering at 1400 & DEG;C. Also, the SiO2-anchoredNi particles supported on YSZ (Ni/YSZ-SiO2) are obtainedvia direct reduction. The electrochemical performance of the Ni/YSZ-SiO2 anode shows a higher power density of approximately 18% thanan unmodified Ni/YSZ anode, which resulted from the longer effectiveTPB area assigned to the highly dispersed Ni particles. The microstructurecontaining SiO2-anchored Ni particles exhibits high stabilityunder testing and reductive hydrothermal conditions. Accordingly,the method of growing a SiO2 layer via low-temperatureCVD is considered as a probable route for the preparation of the Ni/YSZelectrode material with a well-defined microstructure.

Automated summary

In this study, Ni particles were successfully dispersed on YSZ through the strong interaction with SiO2, resulting in the formation of nickel silicate particles. The SiO2-anchored Ni particles supported on YSZ (Ni/YSZ-SiO2) were obtained via direct reduction. The Ni/YSZ-SiO2 anode exhibited higher power density compared to the unmodified Ni/YSZ anode, attributed to the longer effective TPB area provided by the highly dispersed Ni particles. The growth of a SiO2 layer using low-temperature CVD is considered a promising method for preparing Ni/YSZ electrode material with well-defined microstructure.