Electrophoretic deposition of apatite type lanthanum silicates for SOFC half cell production

Abstract Apatite type lanthanum silicates (ATLS) are a new class of electrolyte materials exhibiting good oxygen ion conductivity in the intermediate temperature range. Electrophoretic deposition of aluminium doped ATLS powders from a non-aqueous solvent on a conductive polymer substrate was assessed by carefully adjusting the charging agent and polyelectrolyte addition. A modified electrode was built to be able to deposit on the non-conductive substrate. The optimised suspension was used to assess the feasibility of depositing a thin ATLS electrode powder layer directly on a precompacted non-conductive porous mixed ATLS-NiO anode. The combined use of optimised suspension along with the modified electrode configuration enabled successful production of green half cells.