Inkjet printing infiltration of Ni-Gd:CeO₂ anodes for low temperature solid oxide fuel cells

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) are promising energy conversion devices.
• Anode performance is critical for SOFC efficiency, with NiO-based anodes being common.
• Improving the anode microstructure and triple-phase boundary (TPB) is key to reducing polarization losses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of inkjet printing infiltration of Gd$_{0.1}$Ce$_{0.9}$O$_{2-}$ (GDC) into NiO-GDC anodes.
• To evaluate the effect of GDC infiltration on the performance of symmetrical and button SOFCs.
• To demonstrate the potential of inkjet printing for cost-effective SOFC fabrication.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of NiO-GDC anodes using inkjet printing of suspension and sol inks.
• Infiltration of GDC ink into pre-sintered anode scaffolds.
• Microstructural characterization using High-Resolution Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).
• Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) on symmetrical cells.
• Current-voltage (i-V) testing of button cells.

Main Results:

• Inkjet printing created a nano-decorated anode sub-structure with 50-200 nm nanoparticles.
• Increasing GDC infiltration steps significantly reduced activation polarization in symmetrical cells.
• Button cells with infiltrated anodes showed a ~2.5 times improvement in maximum output power at 600 °C.
• Polarization resistance was reduced by ~2.8 times in infiltrated cells compared to reference cells.

Conclusions:

• Inkjet printing infiltration effectively enhances the anode microstructure and extends the triple-phase boundary.
• This technique leads to substantial improvements in SOFC performance, including increased power output and reduced polarization resistance.
• Inkjet printing is a viable and cost-effective method for commercial SOFC processing.