Fabrication and Characterization of Anode‐Supported Low‐Temperature SOFC Based on Gd‐Doped Ceria Electrolyte

Abstract Large‐size, 9.5 cm × 9.5 cm, Ni‐Gd 0.1 Ce 0.9 O 1.95 (Ni‐GDC) anode‐supported solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) has been successfully fabricated with NiO‐GDC anode substrate prepared by tape casting method and thin‐film GDC electrolyte fabricated by screen‐printing method. Influence of the sintering shrinkage behavior of NiO‐GDC anode substrate on the densification of thin GDC electrolyte film and on the flatness of the co‐sintered electrolyte/anode bi‐layer was studied. The increase in the pore‐former content in the anode substrate improved the densification of GDC electrolyte film. Pre‐sintering temperature of the anode substrate was optimized to obtain a homogeneous electrolyte film, significantly reducing the mismatch between the electrolyte and anode substrate and improving the electrolyte quality. Dense GDC electrolyte film and flat electrolyte/anode bi‐layer can be fabricated by adding 10 wt.% of pore‐former into the composite anode and pre‐sintering it at 1,100 °C for 2 h. Composite cathode, La 0.6 Sr 0.4 Fe 0.8 Co 0.2 O 3 , and GDC (LSCF‐GDC), was screen‐printed on the as‐prepared electrolyte surface and sintered to form a complete single cell. The maximum power density of the single cell reached 497 mW cm –2 at 600 °C and 953 mW cm –2 at 650 °C with hydrogen as fuel and air as oxidant.