Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Vol.95, No.2, 593-599, 2012
Electrophoretic Impregnation/Deposition Complemented with Polymeric Templating for the Fabrication of Functionalized-Porosity Layered-Ceramics: A Solid-Oxide-Fuel-Cells Approach
A simple, economical, and environmentally compatible methodology for the fabrication of layered ceramics is presented herein. Water-based electrophoretic techniques and polymeric templating were combined to fabricate graded-porosity ceramic foams with controlled pore size, pore geometry, and excellent pore connectivity. Dense ceramic films can be laid either on top of the porous ceramic or in a sandwich-style configuration. A single fabrication step suffices when working a single material (or material composition). Else, two or more fabrication steps are required. The two-step manufacture of a half solid-oxide-fuel-cell is presented. The yttria-stabilized zirconia (8YSZ) solid electrolyte layer was deposited on top of the templated graded-porosity nickel-oxide/8YSZ electrode. The present methodology promises alternatives to current fabrication processes.