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 mum, 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 (La(0.85)Sr(0.15))(0.9)MnO(3) (LSM)/YSZ composite, LSM, and La(0.6)Sr(0.4)Co(0.2)Fe(0.8)O(3) (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 750degreesC. A ceramic interconnect for the cell stack, La(0.75)Ca(0.27)CrO(3) (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% H(2) atmosphere. The resistance of the LSM-coated alloy is 148 mOmegacm(2) at 750degreesC and decreases to 43 mOmegacm(2) after 450 h. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.