Thin film of Yttria stabilised zirconia on NiO using vacuum cold spraying process for solid oxide fuel cell

Abstract

Yttria stabilised zirconia (YSZ) was fabricated on a glass and NiO-YSZ anode support substrate using the vacuum cold spraying (VCS) technique at room temperature. The field emission scanning electrode microscope (FESEM) analysis revealed a dense microstructure and several vertical cracks within 0.1 μm width of the YSZ film. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to analyse the grain size and it was found to be 20 nm which was finer size compared to the average particle size of the starting YSZ powder. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed lacking of phase transformation during the VCS process. The YSZ film fabricated by VCS technique showed better gas tightness compared to that fabricated by atmospheric plasma spray process. The Young's modulus of the YSZ film was found to be 172 GPa.