Reinforced composite sealants for solid oxide fuel cell applications

Glass-ceramic sealants are commonly used as joining materials for planar solid oxide fuel cells stacks. Several requirements need to be fulfilled by these materials: beside of electrical insulation and appropriate thermal expansion, a good adhesion on the ceramic and metallic components of a SOFC stack is necessary to form a gas-tight joint. Even though the joining process might have been successful, failures and leaks often occur during the stack operation due to fracture of the brittle material under thermal stresses or during thermal cycling of the components. This study focusses on composite materials consisting of a glass matrix based on the system of BaO-CaO-SiO₂ and various filler materials, e.g. yttria-stabilized zirconia fibres or particles and silver particles. In order to evaluate a possible reinforcing influence of the filler material of the composite, tensile strength tests were carried out on circular butt joints. The highest strength values were found for the composite material with addition of silver particles, followed by the glass matrix itself without any filler addition and the lowest values were measured for the composite with YSZ particles. SEM investigations of cross-sections of the joints elucidated these results by the microstructure of the glass-ceramic sealants.