Degradation Studies and Sr Diffusion Behaviour in Anode Supported Cell after 3,000 h SOFC Short Stack Testing

Abstract

One of the most important issues related to the performance of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) is the reduction of performance due to elements diffusion and phase segregation on their ceramic components. Degradation phenomena were investigated on an SOFC stack tested at 780 ºC for 3000 h and an untested reference cell using XRD, Raman spectroscopy, SEM-WDX and STEM-EDX. In the present work, the evolution of the cathode side of the cell is studied, paying particular attention to diffusion taking place at the barrier layer/cathode interface and the barrier layer/electrolyte interface. The results show that insulating phases and solid solutions have formed at both interfaces in both the pristine and the tested cell.