Properties of Nickel Products for SOFC Applications

Abstract

The first part of this paper presents a review of all nickel products that find applications in SOFCs. The work covers nickel oxides, nickel and nickel alloy foams, nickel powders, and nickel-coated graphite. The second part of the paper reports experimental work in two areas. The first one is an experimental study on the creep properties of nickel foam under compressive stress at high temperatures. This would provide insights for using nickel and nickel alloy foam as GDL or anode current collector in SOFC's. Another experimental work is concerning the preparation of SOFC anodes using Ni based powders including nickel oxides and nickel powders. Results are reported in this paper on volume and dimensional changes of an anode during burnout stage and sintering stage when various nickel powders and a nickel oxide are used.