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Atmospheric Plasma Spraying Low-Temperature Cathode Materials for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

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Abstract

Atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) is attractive for manufacturing solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) because it allows functional layers to be built rapidly with controlled microstructures. The technique allows SOFCs that operate at low temperatures (500-700 °C) to be fabricated by spraying directly onto robust and inexpensive metallic supports. However, standard cathode materials used in commercial SOFCs exhibit high polarization resistances at low operating temperatures. Therefore, alternative cathode materials with high performance at low temperatures are essential to facilitate the use of metallic supports. Coatings of lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite (LSCF) were fabricated on steel substrates using axial-injection APS. The thickness and microstructure of the coating layers were evaluated, and x-ray diffraction analysis was performed on the coatings to detect material decomposition and the formation of undesired phases in the plasma. These results determined the envelope of plasma spray parameters in which coatings of LSCF can be manufactured, and the range of conditions in which composite cathode coatings could potentially be manufactured.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and of Northwest Mettech Corporation. Additionally, the authors acknowledge the support of the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Canada Strategic Research Network from NSERC and other sponsors listed at www.sofccanada.com.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King’s College Road, Toronto, ON, Canada

    J. Harris & O. Kesler

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  1. J. Harris
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  2. O. Kesler
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Correspondence to O. Kesler.

Additional information

This article is an invited paper selected from presentations at the 2009 International Thermal Spray Conference and has been expanded from the original presentation. It is simultaneously published in Expanding Thermal Spray Performance to New Markets and Applications: Proceedings of the 2009 International Thermal Spray Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, May 4-7, 2009, Basil R. Marple, Margaret M. Hyland, Yuk-Chiu Lau, Chang-Jiu Li, Rogerio S. Lima, and Ghislain Montavon, Ed., ASM International, Materials Park, OH, 2009.

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Harris, J., Kesler, O. Atmospheric Plasma Spraying Low-Temperature Cathode Materials for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells. J Therm Spray Tech 19, 328–335 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11666-009-9441-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11666-009-9441-z

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