Ni–P coated Ni foam as coking resistant current collector for solid oxide fuel cells fed by syngas

Ni–P amorphous alloy coatings with different P content are coated onto porous Ni foam by means of electroless plating. The plated Ni foams exhibit excellent carbon deposition resistance and structure stability in syngas at elevated temperature when P content is higher than 6.5 wt% in the coating. Anode supported solid oxide fuel cells fabricated using a spin coating process have a maximum power density of ∼1.3 W cm−2 in H2 at 850 °C and ∼0.8 W cm−2 in syngas at 800 °C. The H2-fueled cells with naked and plated Ni foam current collector have very similar internal ohmic resistance and power density, which confirm the good electronic conductivity of the coatings. The syngas-fueled cells with Au mesh and plated Ni foam current collector reach almost identical power density and internal resistance, and the latter has no apparent degradation of power output during extended fuel cell stability testing. Thus Ni–P is a promising carbon deposition resistant coating of current collector for syngas-fueled solid oxide fuel cells.

► Uniform Ni–P coatings are plated onto highly porous Ni foam current collector.
► Plated Ni foam has excellent conductivity and coking resistance in syngas at elevated temperature.
► A SOFC system with plated Ni foam current collector has high power density and good stability using either H2 or syngas as the fuel.