Fabrication and electrochemical performance of solid oxide fuel cell components by atmospheric and suspension plasma spray

• Published in: Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China Vol. 19; no. 6; pp. 1539 - 1544
• Main Author: 夏卫生 杨云珍 张海鸥 王桂兰
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2009; State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology,Huazhong University of Science and Technology,Wuhan 430074,China; State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology,Huazhong University of Science and Technology,Wuhan 430074,China%College of Automotive Engineering,Wuhan University of Technology,Wuhan 430070,China%State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology,Huazhong University of Science and Technology,Wuhan 430074,China%State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology,Huazhong University of Science and Technology,Wuhan 430074,China
• Subjects: atmospheric plasma spray; electrochemical performance; fabricating process; functionally graded material; solid oxide fuel cell; suspension plasma spray; 功能梯度层; 功能梯度材料; 固体氧化物燃料电池; 大气等离子喷涂; 电化学性能; 电池组件; suspension plasma spray; atmospheric plasma spray; solid oxide fuel cell; fabricating process; functionally graded material; electrochemical performance
• ISSN: 1003-6326
• DOI: 10.1016/S1003-6326(09)60066-2

The theory of functionally graded material （FGM） was applied in the fabrication process of PEN （Positive- Electrolyte-Negative）, the core component of solid oxide fuel cell （SOFC）. To enhance its electrochemical performance, the functionally graded PEN of planar SOFC was prepared by atmospheric plasma spray （APS）. The cross-sectional SEM micrograph and element energy spectrum of the resultant PEN were analyzed. Its interface resistance was also compared with that without the graded layers to investigate the electrochemical performance enhanced by the functionally graded layers. Moreover, a new process, suspension plasma spray （SPS） was applied to preparing the SOFC electrolyte. Higher densification of the coating by SPS, 1.61%, is observed, which is helpful to effectively improve its electrical conductivity. The grain size of the electrolyte coating fabricated by SPS is also smaller than that by APS, which is more favourable to obtain the dense electrolyte coatings. To sum up, all mentioned above can prove that the hybrid process of APS and SPS could be a better approach to fabricate the PEN of SOFC stacks, in which APS is for porous electrodes and SPS for dense electrolyte.