Abstract
We observed serious reduction of SOFC performance due to the agglomeration of Ni particles and the shrinkage of anode made by powder mixture of fine NiO and YSZ particles. Therefore, a new microstructure of anode, which is referred to as “YSZ-supported anodes”, has been proposed in order to overcome the aforementioned problem of the anode. The uniqueness of the new anode is such that YSZ powders are divided into two coarse and fine fractions. It was found that dimension, porosity and electrical conductivity of these anodes were more stable than that of the previous one, and that slight changes in the cell voltage were observed under a constant current flow of 0.4A/cm2. The present investigation of anodes suggests that the two YSZ particles form a solid framework and prevent damage due to Ni agglomeration.
