Lanthanum strontium manganate (LSM)-based cathodes, (La_0.8Sr_0.2)_0.9MnO_3-δ with A-site deficiency, were prepared by the conventional solid-state reaction. The effects of several factors, including defect structure, mass ratio of LSM and YSZ, pore structure characteristics and charge collection methods of the lanthanum strontium manganate-yttria-stabilized zirconia (LSM-YSZ) composite electrode, on performance of the anode-supported solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), were studied. It was found that the LSM with 10% A-site deficiency has higher performance than the stoichiometric LSM. The cathode slurry with polyvinyl butyral (PVB) as the binder has better pore structure. The optimal weight ratio of LSM to YSZ is 6:4, with optimized porosity of 28%. The cathode performance could be effectively improved by coating an LSM current collection layer on the LSM-YSZ layer, while the optimized porosity of the LSM current collection layer is 42%. Under the optimal conditions, a peak power density of 780 mW·cm^-2 was achieved at 800 ℃.

Tubular cone-shaped anode-supported segmented-in-series solid oxide fuel cells are prepared by using a water-based gel-casting technique with acrylamide as the monomer. In preparing the green body of the porous cone-shaped anode (NiO-YSZ) support, by using the gel-casting technique, the reaction temperature is set at 90 ℃, without the requirement of initiator and catalyst. Then, the green anode is prefired at 1200 ℃. An electrolyte (YSZ) film is coated on outside of the anode support by using dip-coating technique and the bilayer is co-sintered at 1400 ℃. A cathode (Ag-GDC) is applied on the electrolyte by using brush-painting, which is then sintered at 850 ℃. The as-prepared tubular anode-supported cell gives a peak power density of 693 mW·cm^-2 at 800 ℃. The segmented-in-series two-cell-stack shows an open circuit voltage of 2.06 V and a peak power of 2.31 W at 800 ℃ with an area of 4.1 cm².

The development of high-performance anode-supported solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) contributes to reducing the working temperature of SOFCs, and the preparation process and structural parameters of cells have a significant impact on the performance. Tape casting is a cheap and mass-produced cell fabrication method. In this paper, anode-supported SOFCs were prepared by a tape casting technique. The effects of pore-former type in anode support, the thickness and porosity of the anode functional layer and the thickness of the electrolyte on the SOFC performances were investigated. An anode functional layer with the thickness of about 12 μm was prepared when PMMA was used as a pore-former of the anode support, thus obtaining a preferred anode structure. Reducing the thickness of the electrolyte can reduce the ohmic resistance, but a too thin electrolyte can lead to the insufficient strength of electrolyte, affecting the stable operation of SOFCs. An anode-supported SOFC with the optimized anode and an electrolyte thickness of 8 μm has a peak power density of 1.2 W·cm^–2 at 800 ℃ .