SBIR Phase I: One Step Flash-Sintering of Multilayer Structures for SOFC Below 1000°C: a New Manufacturing Paradigm for Commercial Viability

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将调查闪速烧结的商业潜力，以提高固体氧化物燃料电池(SOFC)的可制造性和性能。异质多层陶瓷的共烧结仍然是SOFC商业化的技术障碍，原因有两个：1)多层结构的材料需要不同的加工温度，这会阻碍最佳材料的选择；2)批量制造技术膨胀且生产能力低。闪速烧结可以通过降低烧结温度和缩短加工时间来解决这两个技术问题。这些进展将反过来允许：a)使用更高性能的低温阴极材料，b)单步烧结，c)将制造方案从批量改为连续，d)显著降低制造能耗，以及，e)由于降低了加工温度，使用了低成本的工具材料。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是显著提高固体氧化物燃料电池(SOFC)技术的商业可行性。这将通过提高中温SOFC的制造成本和性能来实现。成本的提高反过来将使这种环境清洁、高效的发电系统得到更大的推广，当部署时，随之而来的是温室气体的减少。作为一种颠覆性技术，开发的这项技术通过使新的材料组合能够共烧，对整个非均质陶瓷界面领域(例如：陶瓷气体分离膜、电催化剂、传感器、多层电池和金属-陶瓷复合材料)产生了更广泛的影响。最后，SOFC适用于包括天然气在内的多种燃料，使它们在不断变化的能源市场中具有灵活性。SOFC的大小从几千瓦到几兆瓦不等，适用于从为家庭和小型企业供电到大规模能源生产的所有类型的应用。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will investigate the commercial potential of flash-sintering to enhance the manufacturability and performance of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs). The co-sintering of heterogeneous multilayer ceramics remains a technical barrier to the commercialization of SOFCs for two reasons: 1) the materials for the multilayer structure require different processing temperatures, which can hinder optimum material selection, and 2) batch style manufacturing techniques are expansive and have low throughput. Flash-sintering can address both of these technical issues by lowering the sintering temperatures and reducing the processing times. These advances will in turn permit: a) the use of higher-performing low-temperature cathode materials, b) single-step sintering, c) a change in the manufacturing protocol from batch to continuous, d) significant reduction in manufacturing energy consumption, and, e) the use of lower-cost tooling materials due to reduced processing temperatures. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be to significantly enhance the commercial viability of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) technology. This will be done by improving manufacturing cost and performance of intermediate-temperature SOFCs. Improved cost will in turn enable greater proliferation of this environmentally-clean, high-efficiency power generation system, and when deployed, the concomitant reduction of greenhouse gases. The technique developed has broader impacts as a disruptive technology for the entire field of heterogeneous ceramic interfaces (for example: ceramic gas separation membranes, electrocatalysts, sensors, multilayer batteries, and metal-ceramic composites) by enabling new material combinations to be co-sintered. Finally, SOFCs are suitable for a wide range of fuels, including natural gas, allowing them flexibility in the constantly changing energy market. The size of SOFCs can range from a few kW to a few MW, suitable for all types of applications from powering homes and small businesses, to large-scale energy production.