Nanostructured Anodes for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Obtained by Screen-Printing and Infiltration

Nanomaterials were used for the investigation of electrochemical performance tests of solid oxide fuel cells. Two different approaches were chosen to produce symmetrical nanoparticle (NP)-based cells: screen printing and infiltration. Screen printing, as a state-of-the-art manufacturing process, leads to unstable NiO/gadolinium-doped ceria (GDC) conductive layers, which either show delamination or flaking after sintering or electrochemical testing. The infiltration of an NiO scaffold with GDC NPs and the infiltration of a GDC scaffold with NiO NPs, on the other hand, were used as a solution for these problems, and stable symmetrical cells with particle sizes down to 10 nm were produced. All stable infiltrated cells were microstructurally and electrochemically characterized and showed an improved electrochemical performance.