Break-down of Losses in High Performing Metal-Supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Metal supported SOFC designs offer competitive advantages such as reduced material costs and improved mechanical robustness. On the other hand, disadvantages might arise due to possible corrosion of the porous metal parts during processing and operation at high fuel utilization. In this paper we present the results of performance and stability improvements for a metal supported cell developed within the European project METSOFC and the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation. The cells consist of a porous metal backbone, a metal / zirconia cermet anode and a 10ScYSZ electrolyte, cofired in hydrogen. The electrochemically active parts were applied by infiltrating CGO-Ni precursor solution into the porous metal and anode backbone and screenprinting (La,Sr)(Co,Fe)O3-based cathodes. To prevent a solid state reaction between cathode and zirconia electrolyte, CGO buffer layers were applied in between cathode and electrolyte. The detailed electrochemical characterization by means of impedance spectroscopy and a subsequent data analysis by the distribution of relaxation times enabled us to separate the different loss contributions in the cell. Based on an appropriate equivalent circuit model, the ohmic and polarization losses related to the gas diffusion in the metal support, the electrooxidation in the anode functional layer and the oxygen reduction in the mixed ionic electronic conducting cathode were determined. An additional process with a rather high relaxation frequency could be attributed to the formation of insulating interlayers at the cathode/electrolyte-interface. Based on these results, selective measures to improve performance and stability, such as (i) an improved PVD-deposited CGO buffer layer, (ii) LSC-CGO based in-situ sintered cathodes and (iii) reduced corrosion of the metal support were adopted and validated.