Effect of Bi<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> as a Sintering Aid in the Anode for Electrolyte Supported SOFC

Jeon, Sang-Yun; Goo, Bon-Hyuk; Lee, Taehee; Lim, Dae-Kwang

doi:.0..

J. Electrochem. Sci. Technol > Epub ahead of print

Research Article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33961/jecst.2025.00031 [Epub ahead of print]
Published online May 19, 2025.

Effect of Bi₂O₃ as a Sintering Aid in the Anode for Electrolyte Supported SOFC

Sang-Yun Jeon, Bon-Hyuk Goo, Taehee Lee, Dae-Kwang Lim

Korea Electric Power Corp. Research Institute, Daejeon 34056, Republic of Korea

Correspondence: Dae-Kwang Lim, Tel: +82-42-865-5667, Fax: +82-42-865-5214,
Email: gdlaeo@gmail.com

Received: 15 January 2025 • Accepted: 17 May 2025
*Sang-Yun Jeon and Bon-Hyuk Goo contributed equally to this study as co-first authors.

Abstract

Electrolyte-supported solid oxide fuel cells (Es-SOFCs) utilize dense electrolytes and require high sintering temperatures to enhance the interfacial properties between the electrolyte and anode. In this study, we propose the addition of a Bi₂O₃ sintering aid to the anode to reduce the sintering temperature of the Yttria-stabilized zirconia with 8 mol% (YSZ) electrolyte-based Es-SOFCs. The anodes of the cells consisted of NiO and GDC in a 6:4 weight ratio, with various quantities of Bi₂O₃. The electrochemical performance of the cells was methodically examined using current-voltage curves and constant current bias. Incorporating Bi₂O₃ into the anode enhanced its durability by reducing the degradation rate after 240 h of operation. Among these, the full cell with an anode containing 5 mol% Bi₂O₃ exhibits a better peak power density (PPD) of 0.49 W/cm² and a PPD degradation rate of 17.6% at 800°C, compared to the cell without Bi₂O₃, which shows a PPD of 0.47 W/cm² and a PPD degradation rate of 25.6%. Our results indicate that the addition of Bi₂O₃ as a sintering aid to an anode is an appropriate method for achieving reliable long-term stability of Es-SOFCs.

Keywords: Electrolyte supported SOFC, Anode sintering, Sintering aid, Performance degradation, Bi₂O₃