Electrochemical Properties of Tubular SOFC Based on a Porous Ceramic Support Fabricated by Phase-Inversion Method

In this work, a tubular ceramic-supported solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) was successfully fabricated by a low cost and simple process involving phase-inversion, brush coating and co-sintering. Properties including sintering behavior, microstructure of the tubular support as well as the electrochemical properties of single cell were investigated. The results show that a porous tubular support with finger-like pores and macrovoids was obtained after phase-inversion process. The tubular support is proved to be gas-permeable after sintering at 1400 °C with shrinkage of about 34%. The maximum power density of single tubular SOFC is 100 mW/cm2 and 122 mW/cm2 at 850 °C when fed with wet methane and hydrogen, respectively. The current collection, thickness of electrolyte and gas permeability of tubular support should account for the large total resistance. The present tubular design could be expected to deliver a higher voltage for longer support with several segmented-in-series cell stacks.