Development of Functional SOFC Anode

• Main Authors: Basu, Rajendra, Mukhopadhyay, J, Banerjee, M, Das Sharma, A, Maiti, H S.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1938-5862; 1938-6737
• DOI: 10.1149/1.2729263

For anode-supported planar SOFC, the most widely accepted anode material is nickel-8 mol% yttria stabilized zirconia (Ni- YSZ) cermet. For the required electrical conductivity during intermediate temperature SOFC operation (~800oC), conventionally 35-40 vol% Ni is used. Reduction of nickel content solves not only nickel coarsening problem during long- term SOFC operation but also makes thermal expansion coefficient much closer to YSZ. In this investigation, a novel electroless technique is employed to prepare uniform coating of metallic Ni onto YSZ to make core-shell anode cermet structure. Compared to conventionally prepared anodes (~35 vol% Ni), in this functional anode, percolation threshold is lowered down to ~20 vol% to achieve almost same electrical conductivity (σ800oC ~150 Scm-1). However, the properties of these cermets depend strongly on several processing conditions like particle size of YSZ powders, sensitization process, electroless bath composition and deposition temperature. A simple adsorption kinetic model for sensitization process is proposed.