Fabrication and performance of cone-shaped segmented-in-series solid oxide fuel cells

A new design of segmented-in-series solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) is presented in this paper. The small cone-shaped anode tubes were fabricated by slip casting and the yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte membranes were deposited onto the anode tubes by dip coating. After sintering at 1400°C for 4h, a dense and crack-free YSZ membrane with a thickness of 20μm was successfully obtained. The single cell, using moist hydrogen as a fuel and ambient air as an oxidant, provides maximum power densities of 1.15, 0.8, 0.47, 0.26, 0.14, and 0.07W/cm 2 at 850°C, 800°C, 750°C, 700°C, 650°C, and 600°C, respectively.