Single-chamber solid oxide fuel cell with micro-patterned interdigitated electrodes

Single-chamber solid oxide fuel cells (SC-SOFCs) with micropatterned electrodes on the electrolyte have been fabricated by microfluidic lithography. Microchannels formed by contacting the PDMS mold with a polished substrate of YSZ disc were filled with the suspension of NiO-SDC cermet anode by vacuum-assisted infiltration followed by solidification upon solvent evaporation through the mold. After sintering the anode at 1300°C for 2 hr, the PDMS mold was aligned and recontacted with an anode-patterned electrolyte. The LSM cathode material was patterned and sintered at 1200°C for 2 hr in the same manner as anode fabrication. The resulting SC-SOFC has micro-patterned interdigitated electrodes in a 5 × 5 mm²area in which each electrode had 100 μm line width and anode-to-cathode distance of 50 μm. The microstructure of the cell was examined by SEM. I-V characteristics were analyzed using a DC source meter.