Processing microstructure property correlation of porous Ni–YSZ cermets anode for SOFC application

The present paper investigates microstructural properties and electrical conductivity of cermets prepared by a solid-state technique, a liquid-dispersion technique and a novel electroless coating technique. The Ni-YSZ processed through different techniques shows varying temperature-conductivity behaviour. The cermets synthesised by electroless coating were found to be electronically conducting with 20 vol% nickel, which is substantially lower than that normally reported. The conductivity of Ni-YSZ cermets was found highest for the samples prepared by an electroless coating technique and lowest for the samples prepared by a solid-state technique, the samples prepared from liquid-dispersion show an intermediate value for a constant nickel content. The variation in electrical conductivity has been well explained from the microstructure of the samples.