Suspension Plasma Spraying of Electrolytes on Reformer Supported SOFCs

In this paper, suspension plasma spraying –(SPS) – was used to produce nanostructured electrolytes.  Plasma spraying processes have been optimized and tailored in order to achieve a high power density electrolyte. Nanopowder of GdC has been synthesized using the Glycine-nitrate in order to get dense electrolytes with a nominal thickness as low as 5 microns.  The electrolyte porosity, cracking, adhesion as well as interfacial resistance has been studied as well as the behaviour of the SOFCs cells. The microstructure of the cells was characterized using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was applied to investigate the electrolyte resistance. Crystallite size and homogeneity of the synthesized electrolytes has been studied as a function of the electrolyte performance using nanotomography.