Quantification of Ni-YSZ Anode Microstructure Based on Dual Beam FIB-SEM Technique

Abstract

Three-dimensional microstructure of a conventional Ni-8YSZ anode is quantified by means of dual beam FIB-SEM system equipped with EDX. The microstructure of the anode is virtually reconstructed in a computational field using a series of two-dimensional SEM images acquired. Three-phase-boundary (TPB) density and tortuosity factors are carefully evaluated applying two different evaluation methods to each parameter. TPB density is evaluated by volume expansion method and centroid method, while tortuosity factor is evaluated by Lattice Boltzmann Method calculation and by random walk approach. The estimations of each parameter by two methods match well each other showing the reliability of analyzing methods proposed in this study.