Screen-printed thin YSZ films used as electrolytes for solid oxide fuel cells

A thin yttria-stabilized zirconia (9 mol% YSZ) film was successfully fabricated on a NiO-YSZ anode substrate by a screen-printing technique. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) results suggested that the YSZ film thickness was about 31 mu m after sintering at 1400 degrees C for 4 h in air. A 60 wt% La0.7Sr0.3WO3 + 40 wt% YSZ was screen-printed onto the YSZ film surface as cathode. A single cell was tested from 650 to 850 degrees C using hydrogen as fuel and ambient air as oxidant, which showed an open circuit voltage (OCV) of 1.02 V and a maximum power density of 1.30 W cm(-2) at 850 degrees C. The OCV was higher than 1.0 V, which suggested that the YSZ film was quite dense and that the fuel gas leakage through the YSZ film was negligible. Screen-printing can be a promising method for manufacturing YSZ films for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.