Improvement of Plasma Sprayed Yttria Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) Electrolytes forSolid Oxide Fuel Cells by Spin Coated Sol Gel Solutions

摘要

Yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is the most commonly usedelectrolyte material for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), due toits pure ionic conductivity and chemical stability. Standardelectrolyte fabrication techniques for planar fuel cells involvewet ceramic techniques such as tape-casting or screen printing,which require sintering at temperatures above 1300oC. Plasmaspraying (PS) may provide a more rapid and cost efficientmethod of producing SOFCs without requiring hightemperature post-deposition heat treatments. However, it isdifficult to produce plasma sprayed layers that are both thin(<20μm) and completely dense. It is of utmost importance tohave a dense electrolyte to prevent the mixing of cathode andanode reactant gases. This study investigates the use of spincoated sol gel derived YSZ precursor solutions to fill the porespresent in plasma sprayed YSZ layers.