Fabrication and characterization of a cathode-supported tubular solid oxide fuel cell

A cathode-supported tubular solid oxide fuel cell (CTSOFC) with the length of 6.0 cm and outside diameter of 1.0 cm has been successfully fabricated via dip-coating and co-sintering techniques. A crack-free electrolyte film with a thickness of ∼14 μm was obtained by co-firing of cathode/cathode active layer/electrolyte/anode at 1250 °C. The relative low densifying temperature for electrolyte was attributed to the large shrinkage of the green tubular which assisted the densification of electrolyte. The assembled cell was electrochemically characterized with humidified H2 as fuel and O2 as oxidant. The open circuit voltages (OCV) were 1.1, 1.08 and 1.06 V at 750, 800 and 850 °C, respectively, with the maximum power densities of 157, 272 and 358 mW cm−2 at corresponding temperatures.