Fabrication of Anode-Supported Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Using an Extrusion and Vacuum Infiltration Techniques

A simple and mass productive extrusion technique was applied to fabricate anode-supported tubular solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). A standard NiO/8YSZ (nickel oxide/8 mol % yttria stabilized zirconia) cermet anode, 8YSZ electrolyte, and lanthanum strontium manganite $(La0.8Sr0.2MnO3)$ cathode were used as the material components. Secondary electron microscopy images indicated that vacuum infiltration method successfully generated the thin electrolyte layer (about $15μm$⁠) with a structurally effective three phase boundaries. Fabricated unit cell showed the open circuit voltage of 1.12 V without any fuel leaking problems. Electrochemical tests showed a maximum power density up to $0.30Wcm−2$ at $800°C$⁠, implying the good performance as tubular SOFCs. This study verified that the extrusion aided by vacuum infiltration process could be a promising technique for mass production of tubular SOFCs.