Novel asymmetric anode-supported hollow fiber solid oxide fuel cell

Ni–(Y2O3)0.08(ZrO2)0.92(YSZ) anode-supported hollow fiber solid oxide fuel cell (HF-SOFC) with an outer diameter of 1.1 mm was successfully fabricated by a wet spinning/sintering process. The anode-supported hollow fiber shows a highly asymmetric structure with finger-like voids at the inner side and sponge-like pores at the outer side. Dense YSZ electrolyte layer about 6.5 μm was deposited onto the anode hollow fiber by dip coating. La0.8Sr0.2MnO3−δ (LSM)–YSZ was acted as the composite cathode. The performance of the as-prepared HF-SOFC was tested at 650–800 °C with humidified H2 as fuel and ambient air as oxidant, respectively. The cell provides maximum power densities of 285, 446, 549 and 708 mW cm−2 at 650, 700, 750 and 800 °C, respectively. At 800 °C, the fuel utilization of the maximum power output with different fuel flow rate has been calculated. The excellent performance of the cell indicates that the HF-SOFC has great potential applications in auxiliary power units (APUs) and power sources of portable devices.

► A hollow fiber solid oxide fuel cell (HF-SOFC) was fabricated by a wet spinning/sintering process.
► A highly asymmetric structure with finger-like structure at the inner side and sponge-like pores at the outer side can be controlled by adjusting the spinning parameters.
► The maximum power density is 708 mW cm−2 at 800 °C.