Place of electrophoretic deposition among thin-film methods adapted to the solid oxide fuel cell technology: A short review

Abstract

Thin film technologies have attracted ever-growing interest in different industrial areas. Concerning solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), especially devices operating in the intermediate temperature range, such technologies are applied particularly for the deposition of dense, gas-tight electrolyte films with a thickness of several µm to decrease ohmic resistance and enhance the cell performance. The main requirements for the technology selected are its low cost, simplicity of the equipment used, short deposition time and flexibility regarding the cell shape. First, we overview thin-film technologies adapted to the deposition of SOFC functional layers, discussing their strengths and weaknesses, with special attention given to electrophoretic deposition (EPD) as being the most simple and cost-effective colloidal method to fabricate different electrolyte films. Then we present the contribution of our scientific group in the development of the EPD method. The preparation of stable suspensions for the EDP is one of the key requirements for its successful implementation and reproducibility; this was considered in detail and the effect of self-stabilization in suspensions based on nanopowders (7-15 nm), obtained by the method of laser evaporation with consequent condensation, was discussed. Such suspensions, exhibiting high positive ζ-potential values (30-50 mV), were shown to be suitable for EPD without the addition of dispersants or iodine. The requirements for the electrode substrates were formulated and a model of particle aggregation near the porous substrate surface was proposed. Deposition parameters were established for different electrolyte films -commonly used yttria-stabilized zirconia, single and multiply doped CeO 2 and proton-conducting doped BaCeO 3 electrolytes. As was shown, the deposition on the highly conducting cathode substrates is simpler to implement than the EPD on non-conducting anode substrates and, in addition, it produces high quality films which render high OCV values and superior SOFC performance.

Electrophoretic deposition of coatings and bulk compacts using magnesium-doped aluminum oxide nanopowders

“…The EPD method is based on the formation of a deposited layer on an electrode from a liquid suspension under the action of an external electric field [14][15][16][17]. It is simple and cost-effective, and is characterized by high deposition rates.…”

Comparative Study of Electrophoretic Deposition of Doped BaCeO3-Based Films on La2NiO4+δ and La1.7Ba0.3NiO4+δ Cathode Substrates

“…Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is a colloidal method applied for the formation of thin film, which is the most technologically flexible. Namely, the method is instrumentally simple, practically indifferent to the shape of the surface to be coated, has high productivity, and is well adapted for mass production [14,15,16]. It was shown in some recent works that this method can be successfully applied to the formation of thin films based on both oxygen-ion [17,18,19,20,21,22] and proton-conducting electrolytes [23,24,25,26].…”

A review on the preparation of anode materials and anode films for solid oxide fuel cell applications

“…1-200 μm Simple, fast method, any shape of substrate is doable Choice of solvent media must be chosen carefully [185,202] Tape casting 10-1000 μm Cost-effective, simple, offers large-scale production Slower drying process, crack easily [197,199,200,212] Dry pressing 1-100 μm Simple, reproducible Not suitable for mass production, crack easily after sintering [98,202] Tape calendaring 5-200 μm Vary in thickness, good interfacial structure between the anode and the electrolyte Involving multiple layers for lamination [182,202,214] 3D-printing -Flexible, cost-effective, fast fabrication method Size limitation, high-cost investment for 3D printer, imperfection output image [83] 3D-printing Stereolithography (SLA)…”