Reactive co-sputter deposition of nanostructured cermet anodes for solid oxide fuel cells

The impact of a nanostructured NiO/yttria-stabilized zirconia (NiO/YSZ) and NiO/gadolinia-doped ceria (NiO/GDC) anode functional layers on low- and intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) performance is investigated. NiO/YSZ and NiO/GDC thin films were reactively sputter-deposited by pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering from the Ni, Zr-Y, and Ce-Gd targets onto commercial NiO/YSZ substrates. Anode-supported SOFCs based on magnetron sputtered YSZ and GDC electrolytes (∼4 µm) with and without the nanostructured anode layers are fabricated. A direct comparison of the YSZ- and GDC-based SOFCs in temperature range of 600-800 and 400-600 °C is made. The performance of cells with the nanostructured anode layers significantly increases as compared to that of the cell without it, especially at lower temperatures. Increase of cells performance was achieved by reduction of the total area-specific resistance by 26-30%.