Scale‐up of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells with Magnetron Sputtered Electrolyte

Abstract The possibility of fabricating large‐area solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) with thin film electrolyte using a commercial physical vapor deposition technology is investigated. Yttria‐stabilized zirconia (YSZ)/gadolinium‐doped ceria (GDC) bilayer electrolyte is successfully deposited on a 10 × 5 cm 2 commercial NiO/YSZ anode support by reactive magnetron sputtering. The microstructure of the fuel cells was studied by scanning electron microscopy. Current‐voltage characteristics of fuel cells at a temperature of 750°C and their power stability under electrical load were investigated. Single cells with La 0.6 Sr 0.4 Co 0.2 Fe 0.8 O 3 / Gd 0.1 Ce 0.9 O 1.95 (LSCF/GDC) cathode had an open cell voltage of 1.14 V and a maximum power density of 490 mW cm −2 at 750 °C using H 2 /N 2 gas mixture as fuel and air as the oxidant. Three‐cell planar SOFC stack using 10 × 5 cm 2 anode‐supported unit cells with power density of 450 mW cm −2 at a voltage of 0.7 V per cell has been assembled and tested.