The characteristics of the Ni/YSZ anode material for the solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) were investigated in order to study the relation between the porosity and the conductivity of the cell. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used for the study. The anode material was prepared with NiO and YSZ along with the graphite as pore former. The experiments were performed based on a central composite design matrix, which yielded nine sets of experiments. Porosity and conductivity measurements were performed on the sintered and reduced anode material. Using the measured values as output variables, statistical analysis was performed. The results indicated that the porosity increases by reducing the sintering temperature values, while the conductivity values were on the reverse scale. The conductivity values increase with increasing temperature. Using RSM technique, a ideal point was found in order to obtain a desired porosity volume and conductivity value.

Volume Subject Area:
Materials
Topics:
Anodes, Solid oxide fuel cells, Electrical conductivity, Thermal conductivity, Porosity, Temperature, Composite materials, Design, Graphite, Response surface methodology, Sintering, Statistical analysis
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