Fabrication by Co-extrusion and electrochemical characterization of micro-tubular hollow fibre solid oxide fuel cells

A phase inversion process was used to co-extrude cerium-gadolinium oxide (Ce0.9Gd0.1O1.95)/NiO-CGO dual-layer hollow fibres (HF), which were then sintered to form, respectively, the electrolyte and high porosity anode precursor of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) with anode inner diameter of 0.8 mm. Graded CGO-lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite (La0.6Sr0.4Fe0.8Co0.2O3) cathode layers were then painted onto the CGO electrolyte to form a micro-tubular HF-SOFC. With a carefully designed anode current collector, this produced maximum power densities of 1186-5864W m(-2) at 450-570 degrees C. High magnification imaging analysis revealed large three-phase boundary regions within the anode, a dense electrolyte layer and clearly highlighted the multiple CGO-LSCF cermet and pure LSCF cathode layers. The performance of the HF-SOFC with a twenty millimetre active length showed no degradation after four thermal cycles between 300 C and 570 degrees C. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.