Fabrication of NiO/YSZ anode material for SOFC via mixed NiO precursors

NiO/YSZ anode material with 45 wt.% NiO for SOFC was synthesized by surface-modification of YSZ powder with mixed nickel oxide precursors. YSZ was treated with acidic nickel nitrate and then followed by basic nickel carbonate. Such prepared NiO/YSZ precursor showed nano-size homogeneous mixture upon calcination at 800 °C. The mixture was ground and subjected to calcination at 1200 °C to give rise to agglomerate-free NiO/YSZ composite powder with particle size of ∼ 0.4–0.7 μm. The composite powder was analyzed by XRD, zetapotential measurements, and SEM. The composite powder produced the Ni/YSZ cermet of homogeneous microstructure with a rigid YSZ skeleton, porosity of 33%, and an electrical conductivity of ∼ 430 S/cm at 800–1000 °C, which is much higher than that (∼ 180 S/cm) prepared by a conventional mixed oxide process.