Gas phase deposition of diffusion barriers for metal substrates in solid oxide fuel cells

One way to improve the mechanical properties of solid oxide fuel cells is the development of metal supported designs. This type of SOFC offers improved thermal shock resistance, reduced temperature gradients due to the greater thermal conductivity of the metal, and lower operating temperatures. Switching from ceramic supports to metal supports also allows the uses of conventional metal joining and forming techniques and could significantly reduce the material and manufacture costs. However, one persistent problem needs to be solved: inter-diffusion of chemical elements contained in the metal substrates and in the anodes of SOFC leads to degradation, which is to be prevented by protective coatings. In order to address the issues of sintering and delamination for metal supported SOFC, the deposition of gadolinia doped ceria on metal substrates made of Crofer 22 APU has been done by electron beam evaporation and reactive spray deposition technique, as two direct deposition techniques that will not require a sintering step, respectively. Additionally, the effect of ion-assistance on layers made by electron beam evaporation was studied. Because metal supported fuel cells aim at low/intermediate operating temperatures, reducing the thickness of these protective coatings is crucial, since layer thickness is directly correlated to its ohmic resistance. A layer of nickel was applied by magnetron sputtering to prove the effectiveness of the deposited diffusion barrier layers.

Research highlights
► Successful deposition thin GDC blocking layers onto Crofer 22 APU substrates.
► RSDT and EB-PVD lead to equally good layers on planar substrates.
► EB-PVD delivers equally good layers on planar and porous substrates.
► Ion-assisted processing may lead to the formation of mixed phases and scales.