Enhanced low-temperature power density of solid oxide fuel cell by nickel nanoparticle infiltration into pre-fired Ni/yttria-stabilized zirconia anode.

The Ni/yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) anode morphology of an anode-supported solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) unit cell was improved by nickel nanoparticle infiltration. A colloidal route was selected for efficient fabrication of nickel metal nanoparticles and subsequent infiltration into the Ni/YSZ anode of a pre-fired SOFC unit cell. The power density of the anode-supported SOFC unit cell was measured by the potentiostatic method to investigate the effect of nickel nanoparticle infiltration. The increase in the power density of the Ni/YSZ anode with nickel nanoparticle infiltration became gradually less significant as the SOFC operating temperature increased from 700 to 800 degrees C. The improved performance of the Ni/YSZ anode with nickel nanoparticle infiltration compared to that of an anode without nickel nanoparticles is tentatively attributed to two factors: The discretely distributed nanoparticles on the nanostructured electrodes exhibited significant catalytic effects on the electrochemical performance of the electrodes, in addition to substantially increasing the triple phase boundary lengths.