Atmospheric Plasma Spray Processing of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

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The project will develop a method for the rapid and easily-automated manufacture of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) for clean, efficient power generation. A manufacturing technique will be developed based on a continuous process of plasma spraying in air that is easily scalable for mass production. This work has the potential to drastically reduce the processing time for manufacture of solid oxide fuel cells from 3 days to 3 minutes - a significant breakthrough that will bring SOFCs closer to widespread commercialization. The research project also has the potential to lead to additional breakthroughs in improved performance of SOFCs through optimization of their microstructures by plasma spray processing in ways that are extremely difficult or impossible to accomplish using the traditional wet chemical routes that are currently most widely used to produce the fuel cells. These improvements to SOFC microstructures include electrodes with graded compositions to improve resistance to thermal stresses, and graded porosity and particle sizes to improve efficiency. These improved microstructures would in turn lead to improvements in lifetime, reliability, and performance of the fuel cells, as well as in processing cost. More rapid commercialization of fuel cell technology will create opportunities for Canadian industry to benefit from resulting expanded worldwide markets, and will benefit the Canadian and worldwide public with the resulting improvements to air quality and public respiratory health. It would also extend the lifetime of the limited supply of fossil fuel reserves available worldwide, and would increase energy security by making distributed generation more feasible. The impacts of climate change, particularly on coastal areas, would also be reduced. The research proposed herein has the potential to contribute significantly to the realization of great benefits not only to the Canadian economy, but also to create tremendous environmental and health benefits for the Canadian and worldwide public.