Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Fabricated by Tape-Casting and Dip-Coating Methods

Abstract

Tubular anode-supported solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) generate lower current densities than the planar SOFCs, but they have several advantages such as ease of sealing, high durability, and thermal-cycling stability. In this study, tubular anode supported SOFCs were fabricated by coupling the tape-casting and dip-coating methods. An anode support tape-cast was rolled into tubular shape over a mandrel. The seam joined to form a tube by solvent-assisted lamination at room temperature. The sample was pre-sintered at 900 °C, followed by dip-coating and co-sintering of the electrolyte at 1400 °C. The cathode layers were dip-coated onto the electrolyte and sintered at 1150 °C. The electrochemical performance of the prepared tubular SOFC was evaluated in N2/H2 gas at 650–800 °C. The cell exhibited a maximum power density of 281 mW cm-2 at 800 °C. The results confirmed that using simple low-cost methods including tape-casting, solvent-assisted lamination and dip-coating has the potential for the mass production of tubular SOFCs.

Recent Advances and Challenges in Thin-Film Fabrication Techniques for Low-Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

“…The coated substrate is then dried and further sintered. In this step, the shrinkage behaviour of the coated layer should be carefully observed to avoid delamination and bending of the bilayer film [380,389,390]. The thickness of the deposited layer can be controlled through the combination of slurry viscosity, linear speed, and doctor blade height [391].…”

Micro-Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells with One Closed-End Fabricated Via Dip-Coating and Co-Firing

“…Various methods have been applied to prepare tubular SOFC supports, including compaction (12,13), extrusion (14)(15)(16), gel-casting (17,18), phase inversion (19)(20)(21), freeze casting (22,23), slip casting (24)(25)(26), tape-casting coupled with lamination (27)(28)(29), electrophoretic deposition (30,31), and dip-coating (32)(33)(34)(35). Dip-coating stands out among the mentioned methods as a simple process with promising reproducibility, high contact quality, and low capital cost (11,33).…”

“…Dip-coating stands out among the mentioned methods as a simple process with promising reproducibility, high contact quality, and low capital cost (11,33). Dip-coating has been applied widely for depositing electrolyte onto the tubular supports (21,28,34). In addition, dip-coating has been used to fabricate the whole cell structure by removable or sacrificial rod substrates used as a template (32)(33)(34)36).…”