Tape casting of strontium and cobalt doped lanthanum chromite suspensions

Abstract

Lanthanum chromite (LaCrO3) is currently the most widely studied material as interconnector layers for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). The complexity of microstructures and geometries of SOFC devices, which are usually built-up by lamination of the different constitutive layers, make it necessary a precise control of processing parameters to achieve the desired combination of properties. Much effort has been devoted to the processing of electrodes and electrolytes but the other layers, such as that of interconnecting material, have received scarce attention. This work deals with the preparation and optimisation of the rheological behaviour of concentrated suspensions of Sr- and Co-doped LaCrO3 and the subsequent tape casting to produce homogeneous thin sheets to be used in the SOFC stack. The starting powder was produced by combustion synthesis from the corresponding nitrates and urea as a fuel, and had a final composition of La0.80Sr0.20Cr0.92Co0.08O3. These powders were dispersed in ethanol with commercial copolymers (Hypermer, KD6) to solids loading of up to 58wt%. The binding system (BS) consisted of a mixture of a binder, polyvinyl butyral-co-vinyl alcohol-co-vinyl acetate (PVA-PVAc), and two plasticizers, polyethyleneglycol (PEG400) and benzylbutylphthalate (BBP). The effect of the binding system content and the binder-to-plasticizer ratio on the tape casting performance and the characteristics of the green and the sintered tapes, were studied, as well as the influence of the casting parameters (casting speed and blades height).