Triple-phase boundary and power density enhancement in thin solid oxide fuel cells by controlled etching of the nickel anode

Rabi Ebrahim; Mukhtar Yeleuov; Ainur Issova; Serekbol Tokmoldin; Alex Ignatiev

doi:10.1186/1556-276X-9-286

Triple-phase boundary and power density enhancement in thin solid oxide fuel cells by controlled etching of the nickel anode

Nanoscale Res Lett. 2014 Jun 9;9(1):286. doi: 10.1186/1556-276X-9-286. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Rabi Ebrahim¹, Mukhtar Yeleuov², Ainur Issova², Serekbol Tokmoldin², Alex Ignatiev³

Affiliations

¹ Center for Advanced Materials, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5004, USA ; Department of Physics, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5005, USA.
² Institute of Physics and Technology, Almaty 050032, Kazakhstan.
³ Center for Advanced Materials, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5004, USA ; Department of Physics, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5005, USA ; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-4005, USA ; Institute of Physics and Technology, Almaty 050032, Kazakhstan.

Abstract

Fabrication of microporous structures for the anode of a thin film solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC(s)) using controlled etching process has led us to increased power density and increased cell robustness. Micropores were etched in the nickel anode by both wet and electrochemical etching processes. The samples etched electrochemically showed incomplete etching of the nickel leaving linked nickel islands inside the pores. Samples which were wet- etched showed clean pores with no nickel island residues. Moreover, the sample with linked nickel islands in the anode pores showed higher output power density as compared to the sample with clean pores. This enhancement is related to the enlargement of the surface of contact between the fuel-anode-electrolyte (the triple-phase boundary).

Keywords: Fuel cell; LSCO; Solid oxide; Thin film; Triple-phase boundaries; YSZ.