Patent ID: 7531261

Claim:
A solid oxide electrode/electrolyte assembly comprising: a thin electrolyte sheet made of partially stabilized zirconia and having varied thickness and an average electrolyte sheet thickness between 3 micrometers and 30 micrometers; a plurality of cathode and anode pairs comprising: (a) a plurality of cathodes disposed on a first surface of said electrolyte sheet; (b) a plurality of anodes disposed opposite the cathodes on a second surface of said electrolyte sheet; a plurality of interconnects situated in via galleries, said via galleries being located between said plurality of electrodes; wherein said electrolyte sheet is bendable to an effective radius of curvature of less than 20 cm, has a surface with a pre-determined re-producible pattern and a thickness variation of at least 2 micrometers and its thickness variation is 6.6% to 90% of the average electrolyte sheet thickness, and wherein at least 50% of the area of the electrolyte sheet situated between said cathode and anode pairs has a thinner body than the rest of the electrolyte sheet situated under said cathode and anode pairs and wherein the average thickness of the electrolyte sheet situated between said cathode and anode pairs is smaller than the average thickness of the electrolyte sheet in via galleries.