Scientific challenges in scaling up of metal-supported solid oxide fuel cell size and production volume

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The proposed research project aims to address some of the scientific challenges that arise in scaling up both the area of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and in designing a manufacturing process that is conducive to being scaled up to large volumes. The use of plasma spray deposition for the fabrication of coatings at large industrial production volumes is well-established in the aerospace, diesel engine, and print roll manufacturing industries. In these applications, plasma spray manufacturing has proven to be cost-effective, allowing for high deposition efficiencies of feedstock powder and economical large-scale production. The technique is also highly conducive to the use of automated production lines. However, the use of plasma spraying for the fabrication of SOFCs creates additional scientific challenges that need to be addressed in order to make the process economical on a large scale. Specifically, the need to fabricate composite coatings with high porosity(approximately30-35%) for the fuel cell electrodes requires the use of processing conditions that currently result in less efficient utilization of feedstock material than in the production of coatings made from a single composition of material and with low-to-moderate porosity values (5-15%). The proposed project seeks to address those scientific challenges in order to develop a manufacturing process at the laboratory scale with high coating deposition efficiency for the fabrication of SOFC components with composite material compositions and both very high and very low porosities. Such a process must be developed and demonstrated at the laboratory scale before it can be made viable at large manufacturing volumes, generating jobs and economic benefits within Canada in the process.