Application of PVD methods to solid oxide fuel cells

In this paper, attention is paid to the application of such a method of vacuum physical vapor deposition (PVD) as magnetron sputtering for fabrication of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) materials and structures. It is shown that the YSZ (yttria-stabilized zirconia) electrolyte and Ni-YSZ anode layers with required thickness, structure and composition can be effectively formed by PVD methods. The influence of parameters of pulsed power magnetron discharge on the deposition rate and the microstructure of the obtained YSZ electrolyte films were investigated. It is shown that the deposition rate of the oxide layers by magnetron sputtering can be significantly increased by using asymmetric bipolar power magnetrons, which creates serious prerequisites for applying this method on the industrial scale. Porous Ni-YSZ anode films were obtained by reactive co-sputtering of Ni and Zr-Y targets and subsequent reduction in the H2 atmosphere at a temperature of 800 °C. The Ni-YSZ films comprised small grains and pores of tens of nanometers.