Performance evolution of NiO/yttria-stabilized zirconia anodes fabricated at different compaction pressures

Nickel oxide (NiO)/yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) anode substrates were fabricated at four compaction pressures, 70, 200, 500 and 1000 MPa, the particle size distributions of NiO and YSZ were investigated with the powders treated at different compaction pressures, and the effects of compaction pressure on the performance of anodes with and without pore-formers were investigated by studying the effects of compaction pressure on the sintering shrinkage, compaction density, sintered density and electrical conductivity of anodes and the performance of cells. Experimental results demonstrated that the mismatch in the sintering shrinkages of YSZ films and the anodes compacted at 70 and 1000 MPa caused gas leakage across the films and thus a higher local temperature than the furnace temperature. The single cell with the anode using pore-former and compacted at 500 MPa exhibited the best output performance of 2.66 W cm⁻² at 800 °C.