An Investigation on Dip‐Coating Technique for Fabricating Anode‐Supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

To cut down the energy consumption and processing period, Ni‐YSZ anode‐supported thin YSZ electrolyte SOFCs have been fabricated by an improved dip‐coating technique, in which the electrolyte layer was dip‐coated on green anode substrates instead of prefired ones, followed by co‐firing. The film formation mechanisms of dip‐coating were analyzed with liquid entrainment and capillary effect assumptions. According to the mechanisms, a typical YSZ electrolyte slurry formula of conventional dip‐coating technique was modified for the improved technique by increasing the binder content and the solid loading. With the improved dip‐coating technique, along with an optimized electrolyte slurry formula, a SOFC with dense electrolyte, revealing a maximum power density of 460 mW/cm ² at 800°C, was obtained. Factors affecting the coating layers were also investigated by SEM and AC impedance analyses.