9
Highly
Textured Composite Seals for SOFC Applications--NexTech
Materials, Ltd., 720-I Lakeview Plaza Boulevard, Worthington, OH
43085-4733; 614-842-6606, www.nextechmaterials.com
Dr.
Matthew M. Seabaugh, Principal Investigator,
Mr.
William J. Dawson, Business Official,
DOE
Grant No. DE-FG02-02ER83528
Amount:
$750,000
A
major obstacle to the commercialization of planar solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs)
is the lack of sealing materials that are chemically and mechanically robust.
Seals must withstand both the oxidizing and reducing atmospheres and the
thermal cycling that accompany SOFC operation, while remaining both compliant
enough to bond well at interfaces and rigid enough to resist creep during use.
This
project will develop a family of low-cost, composite, compliant seal materials
with specially controlled microstructures that can be tailored to the
requirements of different SOFC stack designs.
Phase I synthesized a number of different composite materials, fabricated
seal gaskets of these materials by tape casting methods, and tested the seal
performance of these gaskets at elevated temperatures and under thermal cycling
conditions. Performance improvements compared to the state-of-the-art were
demonstrated. Phase II will explore
a number of strategies to further improve seal performance, and reduce the cost
and utility of these seal materials. The
seal materials will be tested under application-specific conditions, including
larger cell areas and longer-term test durations.
Commercial Applications
and Other Benefits as described by awardee:
Commercial applications include
residential power and heat, remote power generators, military power supplies,
auxiliary power units for transportation, and stationary power generation
systems.