Hamood Al Kharusi; Mozhgan Svensson; Babak Salamatinia; Bahman Amini Horri
Abstract
NiO/YSZ (nickel oxide / yttria-stabilized zirconia) is the state-of-the-art anode composite for fabrication of high-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). In this study, nanocomposite powder of NiO/YSZ was synthesized by thermal treatment of the gel beads formed by extrusion dripping of sodium alginate ...
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NiO/YSZ (nickel oxide / yttria-stabilized zirconia) is the state-of-the-art anode composite for fabrication of high-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). In this study, nanocomposite powder of NiO/YSZ was synthesized by thermal treatment of the gel beads formed by extrusion dripping of sodium alginate solution into an aqueous solution of Ni+2, Y+3, and Zr+4. The NiO/YSZ nanocomposite powder was prepared by calcination (thermal decomposition) of the dried beads in a muffle furnace at 400°C-600°C for 6 hours. The as prepared powders were characterised by TGA, XRD, FESEM, and TEM techniques. The TGA results of the dried beads showed that the thermal degradation begins at 135°C which is followed by a total mass loss of around 75.0% at 600°C. The morphology analysis of the sample (by FESEM and TEM images) showed a relatively uniform particle size distribution of the powder with an average particle size of 5-25 nm that was confirmed by the XRD crystal size calculations. The electrochemical performance measurement of the fabricated cell using the synthesized NiO/YSZ showed a maximum power density of 1143 mW/cm2 at 850°C under hydrogen stream at 20 ml/min. Copyright © 2017 VBRI Press.