Influential parameters and performance of a glass-ceramic sealant for solid oxide fuel cells

Glass-ceramic composites are among the few materials suitable for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) sealing application due to their high operating temperatures (600–850 °C). Glass-ceramics can chemically bond to both the metallic interconnector and the ceramic electrolyte and provide a gas-tight connection. However, a careful manufacturing procedure, which includes several stages, is required to obtain a gas-tight seal. In this study, the joint strength of the glass-ceramic sealant between two metallic interconnectors is experimentally investigated for different surface properties of the metallic interconnector. According to the experimental results, the optimum sintering temperature and pressure are found to be 870 °C and 0.5 kg cm−2, respectively. In addition, the best bonding strength among the support materials considered is obtained for NiO. Furthermore, the sealing thickness is optimized as 0.6 mm.