Fabrication of ceramic films for solid oxide fuel cells via slurry spin coating technique

Thin ceramic films of samaria-doped ceria (SDC) were deposited on green NiO–SDC substrate via a slurry spin coating technique followed by co-firing. The ceramic films as-prepared are homogenous and dense, without cracks and penetrating pinholes, as observed from cross-sectional SEM images. The thicknesses of the ceramic films for one coating run can be adjusted between 0.8 and 9 μm by altering the spin rate. The film thickness (h) is inversely proportional to the logarithm of the spin rate (Log(f)) in the range of 3000–10,000 rpm. The slurry spin coating procedure is largely a competition between the thinning and the drying. Half-cells with both 15 and 25 mm diameters were fabricated. In addition, YSZ electrolyte layer with a thickness of 15 μm was also deposited with a homogeneous and completely dense microstructure by two runs of slurry spin coating.