Geometric Modeling of Infiltrated Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Electrodes for Performance Optimization

In this work, the effect of nano-particle infiltration on some different microstructures of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) electrodes was predicted by virtual realization of electrode geometry. At first Various electrode microstructures that were generated by Mont. Carlo method were selected then different amount of nano-particles under some controlled condition were deposited virtually on the surface of electrodes. This deposition process was on the base of selecting some random positions on the surface of electrode microstructure by following some limitations like total volume or agglomeration ratio of nanoparticles. The final virtual microstructures were evaluated in some geometric parameters like triple phase boundary length (TPBL), double phase boundary surface (DPB) and tortuosity of void phase. These parameters can be related twosome electrochemical and physical properties to predict the electrode behavior after adding nano-particles. This process is performed by some codes that was implemented in Matlab software. If this simulation method combined with some experimental data, it can be used to estimate the performance of infiltrated electrodes that was manufactured by using different materials and manufacturing process.