Screen-Printing of NiO-ScSZ on YSZ Substrate Using Solid-State Reaction and Glycine-Nitrate Process Precursors for Solid Oxide Electrochemical Cells

Abstract

Solid oxide electrochemical cells (SOCs) consisting of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) are widely studied for the development of high-efficiency energy generation and storage devices. To investigate the effect of precursor particle size on the microstructural and morphological properties of the electrode, glycine nitrate process and solid-state reaction ball-milling were utilized as synthesis methods for Nickel oxide-scandia stabilized zirconia (NiO-ScSZ) powders. The synthesized powders were then screen-printed on commercial YSZ solid electrolyte substrates. The structure and morphology of the sintered electrodes were investigated. Particle size analysis (PSA) revealed that NiO-ScSZ precursor powders obtained from GNP ball-milled had a smaller average particle size than solid-state reaction ball-milled powders. For the sintered NiO-ScSZ films, cubic structures of both NiO and ScSZ have been observed from the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns. A better porous morphology with less agglomeration and better dispersion of NiO and ScSZ phases was revealed by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs and elemental mapping for the GNP-ball-milled synthesized powders.