Advanced Manufacturing of Unique Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Electrode and Electrolyte Microstructures through Aerosol Deposition
Authors: Tenney Joshua , Sabolsky Edward , Sabolsky Katarzyna , Helgeson Evan , Conte Jordan , Abernathy Harry W. , Liu Jian , Yang Tao 
Published: September 2023

Development of various additive manufacturing technologies over the years has given an opportunity for highly customizable and unique structures to be fabricated with applications towards several different industries. For ceramic manufacturing, techniques such as direct ink writing (DIW), stereolithography (SLA), and fused deposition modeling (FDM) have been utilized to construct very complex structures. These technologies have also been developed for use towards solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) where they have been utilized to manufacture components greater than 200 µm in thickness. Some components of the SOFC such as the electrodes, electrolyte, and barrier layer are much smaller and consist of thicknesses from 1 µm to 50 µm. Along with the reduced thickness, the electrodes of a SOFC are often comprised of a composite material where the previously mentioned technologies struggle with achieving both the required high resolution and compositional change needed to manufacture these specific components. This project’s goal is to develop an additive manufacturing technique that suits both requirements for manufacturing the electrodes, electrolyte, and barrier layer of a SOFC.

The technology that has been developed to complete the manufacturing of highly customizable electrodes along with the electrolyte and barrier layer is Aerosol Deposition. The Aerosol Deposition system contains several different elements that lead to consistently tailored microstructures for the various 3-D printed parts including the use of syringe pumps, an ultrasonic atomizing nozzle from Sonaer Ultrasonics, an infrared heater, and a flexible automation system. The ultrasonic atomizing nozzle is used to convert a stream of liquid into a fine mist via mechanical vibrations. The liquid that is supplied to our ultrasonic atomizing nozzle is low solids loading solvent-based suspension containing approximately 1 - 5 vol% of solids and polymer pore formers. Suspensions are supplied to the nozzle by mechanical pressure provided from a programmable syringe pump. This technology accompanied with a flexible automation system gives the potential for highly customizable and repeatable microstructures that can aid in evaluating variables associated with the different components of the SOFC.

Development of the additive manufacturing system to fabricate the anode functional layer, electrolyte, barrier layer, and cathode active and current collector layers through an automated process have been studied. For the electrodes, a microstructure that contains approximately 30% - 40% porosity is suitable to enhance the electrochemical performance of the electrode. Sintering temperatures for the electrodes typically range from 1000 °C to 1300 °C which can typically densify the microstructure and restrict the amount of porosity present. To implement porosity within the microstructure poly(methyl methacrylate) was incorporated into electrode suspensions due to their ability to diffuse out of the electrode microstructure at temperatures of ~450 °C. The electrical and mechanical properties of the separate components have been characterized accordingly utilizing electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Acknowledgements:

This work was performed in support of the US Department of Energy’s Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Program. The authors would like to acknowledge the WVU Shared Research Facilities (SRF) and thank Dr. Thomas Kalapos from Leidos Research Support Team for his assistance.