3-D inkjet printed solid oxide electrochemical reactors III. Cylindrical pillared electrode microstructures

Inkjet printing is a scalable technique that can fabricate customised three-dimensional microstructures, reproducibly, accurately, and with high material utilisation, by multiple layers sequentially onto previously printed layers, to produce architectures tailored in this case electrochemical reactors. Printable yttria-stabilised zirconia (YSZ) lanthanum strontium manganite (LSM) inks were formulated enable fabrication of solid oxide reactors (SOERs): H2O-H2 | Ni(O)-YSZ YSZ pillars LSM O2. Of the geometries studied, equi-sized, hexagonally-arranged cylindrical predicted largest ratio interfacial geometric (cross-sectional) areas. However, neglects effects potential current density distributions constrain up-scaling more modest factors. Hence, using kinetic parameter values from literature, finite element computational simulations pillared SOER (H2 - O2) fuel cell mode peak power densities 0.11 W cm?2 at 800 °C, whereas its counterpart only planar electrolyte layer produced 0.05 cm?2; i.e. enhance ca. 2.3. Arrays several thousand printed, post-sintering diameter, height, spacing 25, 95 63 ?m, respectively. was inkjet-printed pillars, sintered subsequently, contiguous films 4 ?m thick. In 725, 770, 795 these 0.09, 0.21, 0.30 cm?2, respectively, 3–6 times greater than performance ‘benchmark’ cathodes operating under same conditions, thereby demonstrating benefit inkjet as for SOERs.