Development of Hot Pressing as a Low Cost Processing Technique for Fuel Cell Fabrication

摘要

Dependable, plentiful, and economical energy has been the driving force for financial, industrial, and political growth in the US since the mid 19th century. For a country whose progress is so deeply rooted in abundant energy and whose current political agenda involves stabilizing world fossil fuel prices, the development of a reliable, efficient and environmentally friendly power generating source seems compulsory. The maturing of high technology fuel cells may be the panacea the country will find indispensable to free itself from foreign dependence. Fuel cells offer an efficient, combustion-less, virtually pollution-free power source, capable of being sited in downtown urban areas or in remote regions. Fuel cells have few moving parts and run almost silently. Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that convert the chemical energy of a fuel directly to electrical energy. Unlike batteries, which store a finite amount of energy, fuel cells will generate electricity continuously, as long as fuel and oxidant are available to the electrodes. Additionally, fuel cells offer clean, efficient, and reliable power and they can be operated using a variety of fuels. Hence, the fuel cell is an extremely promising technology. Over the course of this research, the fundamental knowledge related to ceramic processing, sintering, and hot pressing to successfully hot press a single operational SOFC in one step has been developed. Ceramic powder processing for each of the components of an SOFC has bene tailored towards this goal. Processing parameter for the electrolyte and cathode have been studied and developed until they converted. Several anode fabrication techniques have been developed. Additionally, a novel anode structured has been developed and refined. These individual processes have been cultivated until a single cell SOFC has been fabricated in one step.