Development of Novel Honeycomb SOFCs for Intermediate Temperature Operation

Abstract

We have studied the design and fabrication of an innovative cathode-supported honeycomb SOFCs, which can generate high volumetric power density. Among various cell designs, cathode-supported honeycomb SOFCs are suitable for compact SOFC modules operated at intermediate temperature since they have large effective electrode area per unit volume. In this report, we summarized the material system for the honeycomb SOFC, and we selected (LaSr)MnO₃ (LSM), Sc₂O₃-doped zirconia and NiO-Ce_0.9Gd_0.1O_1.95 (GDC) as cathode, electrolyte and anode materials, respectively. The LSM-supported SOFC with a LSM-GDC activation layer can generate maximum power densities of 47, 79 and 163 mW cm⁻² at 550, 600 and 650°C, respectively. The results indicate that the honeycomb SOFC with a volumetric electrode area of 40 cm² cm⁻³, which we have successfully fabricated, could generate a volumetric power density of 2 W cm⁻³ at 600°C.