Design and fabrication of micro close end tubular SOFC with internal conduction layer

Abstract

Micro-tubular SOFCs (Solid Oxide Fuel Cells) with internal conduction layer were fabricated by controlling the shrinkage of the inner anode layer to avoid the delamination or breakage of the cell during sintering. In order to fabricate these cells, pre-sintering of anode tubes were examined in a temperature range of 10001350° C. Micro close end tubular cells were successfully prepared by using this pre-sintering at 1100°C. The micro-tubular cells with close end show good tolerance to repeating thermal cycles due to their unique shape. Because of one end connection, the polarization of them was larger than the common tubular cells with two end connection and needed to be improved, which was solved by the application of internal porous conduction layer. As demonstrated by this work, maximum power density of 0.6W/cm2 at 600°C was obtained after application of a thin nickel conductive layer, which was as thin as 20μm.