Applying Low-Pressure Plasma Spray (LPPS) for coatings in low-temperature SOFC

Low-temperature solid oxide fuel cell (LTSOFC) has shown great potentials for commercial applications in clean energy generation. Seeking for low cost and easy fabrication method is one of the most important issues for LTSOFC investigations. This paper introduces a new coating spray technology, namely Low-Pressure Plasma Spray (LPPS), for efficiently manufacturing different functional coatings of LTSOFC. By applying the LPPS technique, uniform and dense Ni0.8Co0.15Al0.05LiO2−δ (NCAL) coatings were made on both solid bipolar plates and porous nickel foams to perform as protecting coatings and electrode catalyst coatings respectively. Microstructure study showed that multi phases were formed and in-situ nano-micro crystallization occurred in the coatings during the LPPS process. Around 30 W output was achieved in a 4-cell stack indicating that the LPPS sprayed NCAL coatings on bipolar plates worked well. A fuel cell based on the NCAL-coated Ni foam reached an open circuit voltage (OCV) at 1.08 V and a maximum power density of 717 mW cm−2 at 550 °C. This study reveals that LPPS is a promising technology for fabricating coatings of LTSOFC.