Low-Temperature Fabrication of Screen-Printed NiO-YSZ Thin Film Anodic Layer on Metal Substrate via Hot-Pressing for Metal-Supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Abstract

Ni-YSZ cermet remains to be the most used anode material for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), and metal-supported solid oxide fuel cells are considered as the third generation SOFCs which can possibly address the overpotential and ohmic losses due to thicker components of electrolyte-and anode-supported cells. This study investigates the low-temperature deposition of crystalline NiO-YSZ thin film anodic layers on stainless steel (SS316L) substrates via screen-printing and hot pressing. Results revealed that screen-printing and hot pressing of NiO-YSZ on SS316L substrates at only 700°C (100 MPa) successfully deposited a ~40-μm thin film with a cubic crystalline structure. The thin film can also be fully reduced to Ni-YSZ with a cubic crystalline structure for both Ni and YSZ. In addition, EDS mapping revealed a relatively homogenous distribution of the Ni-YSZ components.