Inorganic binder-containing composite cathode contact materials for solid oxide fuel cells

The feasibility of adding inorganic binder to conventional SOFC cathode contact materials in order to improve bonding to adjacent materials in the cell stack is assessed. A variety of candidate binder compositions are added to LSM. The important properties of the resulting composites, including ASR, reactivity, and adhesion to LSCF and MCO-coated 441 stainless steel are used as screening parameters. The most promising CCM/binder composites are coated onto MCO-coated 441 coupons and anode-supported button cells with LSCF cathode, and tested at 800 °C. It is found that a LSM-644A composite displayed excellent initial performance and promising stability. Indeed, addition of binder is found to improve bonding of the CCM layer without sacrificing CCM conductivity.