Petrochemistry and Chemical Engineering

Biography

Biography: Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Othman

Abstract

Detailed knowledge on the microstructure of anode-supported solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is very crucial in developing a high performance power generating devices. A highly porous anode may provide numbers of triple-phase boundaries while electrolyte dense layer may prevent the direct flow of gases through one electrode to the other electrode. In this study, a structural-improved electrolyte/anode hollow fibre was fabricated using the economical fabrication method i.e. single-step co-extrusion and co-sintering technique. The electrolyte was composed of yttrium-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) while the anode was the mixture of YSZ and nickel oxide (NiO). In the early phase of study, 0-10 wt.% of pore formers such as corn starch and polyetheretherketone (PEEK) were added into anode suspension to allow the control over the Ni-YSZ anode layer structure. The results were shown that the increase in pore former loading caused the apparent porosity increased but reduced the mechanical strength of anode. The next phase was the modification of electrolyte layer by mixing various particle size diameters of YSZ (i.e. micron, sub-micron and nano-sized) during electrolyte suspension preparation. The fabricated dual-layer hollow fibres were then subjected for several characterizations as it greatly affects morphology as well as its sintering temperature, mechanical strength and gas-tightness of resultant hollow fibre. Finally, the SOFC electrical performance was evaluated by conducting hydrogen-based fuel cell analysis at temperature range of 650-800 ⁰C using potentiostat/galvanostat modes.