Thick-film electrolyte (thickness <20 μm)-supported solid oxide fuel cells

A novel design of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) which utilizes a thick film (<20 mu m) as an electrolyte support is developed and tested. The sintered 16 mu m-thickyttria-stabilizecl zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte film is mounted on a 1-mm thick YSZ ring by sintering the two pieces together. With this new configuration, it is possible to fabricate a thick (<20 mu m) electrolyte-supported SOFC and measure the power density of the unit cell. With LSCF (La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-delta) as a cathode and Ni-YSZ as a composite anode, the cell with a 16 mu m-thick YSZ electrolyte achieves a high performance, i.e., a maximum power density of 590 mW cm(-2) at 800 degrees C. This value is comparable with that of most anode-supported SOFCs using YSZ electrolytes. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.