Transient porous nickel interlayers for improved silver-based Solid Oxide Fuel Cell brazes

Zhou, Quan; Bieler, Thomas R.; Nicholas, Jason D.

doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2018.01.061

Transient porous nickel interlayers for improved silver-based Solid Oxide Fuel Cell brazes

Journal Article · Fri Feb 02 23:00:00 EST 2018 · Acta Materialia

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2018.01.061· OSTI ID:1674945

^[1]; ^[2]; ^[2]

Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Michigan State University
Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States)

Silver-copper oxide reactive air brazes are the most widely used Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) brazes. However, the conventional Ag-4 wt.% Cu composition has a high wetting angle of ~40° in air on yttria-stabilized-zirconia (YSZ) that leads to manufacturing defects (denoted as Type I pores). Also, many reactive air elements that oxidize during brazing to promote braze wetting (such as Cu) are easily reduced by SOFC fuels. This results in Type II pores that decrease the braze interfacial strength and provide a quick path for hydrogen invasion into the braze (where the hydrogen reacts with diffused oxygen to form gaseous water pockets, denoted as Type III pores). The present work demonstrates that transient porous nickel interlayers, instead of reactive element additions, can be used to promote Ag wetting on YSZ and produce high-quality YSZ-stainless steel braze joints. Mechanical tests on these reactive-element-free, silver-based SOFC braze joints, both before and after 500 hours of 750°C oxidation in air, show that the braze and braze interface strengths are higher than the underlying YSZ|NiO-YSZ substrate. Finally, the elimination of Type I and Type II porosity enabled by this new technique should result in improved braze lifetimes for SOFC and other ceramic-to-metal sealing applications.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)

Grant/Contract Number:: FE0023315

OSTI ID:: 1674945

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1537903
OSTI ID: 1547149
OSTI ID: 22744498

Journal Information:: Acta Materialia, Journal Name: Acta Materialia Vol. 148; ISSN 1359-6454

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (36)

In-situ determination of growth and thermal stresses in chromia scales formed on a ferritic stainless steel Mougin, J.; Galerie, A.; Dupeux, M. Materials and Corrosion, Vol. 53, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1002/1521-4176(200207)53:7<486::AID-MACO486>3.0.CO;2-P	journal	July 2002
Mechanical Properties of Reactive Air Brazed (RAB) Metal/Ceramic Joints. Part 1: Visco-Plastic Deformation of Silver-Based Reactive Air Brazes: Mechanical Properties of RAB Metal/Ceramic Joints: Part 1 … Skiera, Erik; Brandenberg, Jörg; Li, Chichi Advanced Engineering Materials, Vol. 16, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.201400072	journal	June 2014
Influence of Filler and Base Material on the Pore Development during Reactive Air Brazing: Influences on the Pore Development during RAB Bobzin, Kirsten; Kopp, Nils; Wiesner, Stefanie Advanced Engineering Materials, Vol. 16, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.201400177	journal	June 2014
Damage and Failure of Silver Based Ceramic/Metal Joints for SOFC Stacks Bause, T.; Malzbender, J.; Pausch, M. Fuel Cells, Vol. 13, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1002/fuce.201200181	journal	February 2013
Aging Behavior of Reactive Air Brazed Seals for SOFC Pönicke, A.; Schilm, J.; Kusnezoff, M. Fuel Cells, Vol. 15, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1002/fuce.201400192	journal	August 2015
Wetting of nickel by silver Nagesh, V. K.; Pask, J. A. Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 18, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00547582	journal	September 1983
A comparison of the wettability of copper-copper oxide and silver-copper oxide on polycrystalline alumina Meier, A. M.; Chidambaram, Pr.; Edwards, G. R. Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 30, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01154485	journal	October 1995
The Ag-Cr (Silver-Chromium) system Venkatraman, M.; Neumann, J. P. Bulletin of Alloy Phase Diagrams, Vol. 11, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03029296	journal	June 1990
Development of silver–metal oxide reactive air braze alloys for electroding PZT ceramics Pavlina, E. J.; Meier, A. M.; Monteleone, P. Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 42, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-006-1381-0	journal	December 2006
Brazing of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) to stainless steel using Cu, Ag, and Ti-based brazes Singh, Mrityunjay; Shpargel, Tarah P.; Asthana, Rajiv Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 43, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-007-1985-z	journal	November 2007
Interfacial properties of (Ag + CuO) brazes used as sealing materials in SOFC stacks Chatzimichail, R.; Triantafyllou, G.; Tietz, F. Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 49, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-013-7706-x	journal	September 2013
Aluminizing of iron-nickel-base alloys for resistance to high-temperature gaseous environments Green, S. W.; Stott, F. H. Corrosion Science, Vol. 33, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-938X(92)90065-B	journal	March 1992
Nonstoichiometry and thermochemical stability of the perovskite-type La1−xSrxMnO3−δ Mizusaki, J. Solid State Ionics, Vol. 49 https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-2738(91)90076-N	journal	December 1991
Spontaneous infiltration of non-cylindrical porosity: Close-packed spheres Trumble, K. P. Acta Materialia, Vol. 46, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-6454(98)80017-7	journal	April 1998
Reactive air brazing for sealing mixed ionic electronic conducting hollow fibre membranes Chen, Hong; Li, Leijun; Kemps, Raymond Acta Materialia, Vol. 88 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2015.01.029	journal	April 2015
Computational design of metal oxides to enhance the wetting and adhesion of silver-based brazes on yttria-stabilized-zirconia Phongpreecha, Thanaphong; Nicholas, Jason D.; Bieler, Thomas R. Acta Materialia, Vol. 152 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2018.04.024	journal	June 2018
The wetting behaviour of silver on carbon, pure and carburized nickel, cobalt and molybdenum substrates Hula, Robert C.; Edtmaier, Christian; Holzweber, Markus Applied Surface Science, Vol. 256, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2010.02.075	journal	May 2010
Dual-atmosphere tolerance of Ag–CuO-based air braze Kim, J.; Hardy, J.; Weil, S. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 32, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2006.08.054	journal	November 2007
Mechanical properties and dual atmosphere tolerance of Ag–Al based braze Kim, J.; Choi, J.; Scottweil, K. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 33, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2007.12.043	journal	July 2008
Effect of isothermal aging on the mechanical performance of brazed ceramic/metal joints for planar SOFC-stacks Kuhn, B.; Wessel, E.; Malzbender, J. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 35, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2010.06.063	journal	September 2010
Effects of thermal cycling and thermal aging on the hermeticity and strength of silver–copper oxide air-brazed seals Scott Weil, K.; Coyle, Christopher A.; Darsell, Jens T. Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 152 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2005.01.053	journal	December 2005
Sealants for solid oxide fuel cells Fergus, Jeffrey W. Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 147, Issue 1-2, p. 46-57 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2005.05.002	journal	September 2005
Studies of residual stresses in planar solid oxide fuel cells Malzbender, J.; Fischer, W.; Steinbrech, R. W. Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 182, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2008.04.035	journal	August 2008
Mechanical performance of reactive-air-brazed (RAB) ceramic/metal joints for solid oxide fuel cells at ambient temperature Kuhn, B.; Wetzel, F. J.; Malzbender, J. Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 193, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2008.10.117	journal	August 2009
Reactive air brazing of YSZ ceramic with novel Al2O3 nanoparticles reinforced Ag-CuO-Al2O3 composite filler: Microstructure and joint properties Si, Xiaoqing; Cao, Jian; Song, Xiaoguo Materials & Design, Vol. 114 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2016.10.062	journal	January 2017
Oxygen nonstoichiometry and thermo-chemical stability of La0.6Sr0.4Co1-yFeyO3-δ (y=0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8) Hashimoto, Shin-ichi; Fukuda, Yasuhiro; Kuhn, Melanie Solid State Ionics, Vol. 181, Issue 37-38 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssi.2010.09.024	journal	December 2010
Metal Adatoms and Clusters on Ultrathin Zirconia Films Choi, Joong Il Jake; Mayr-Schmölzer, Wernfried; Valenti, Ilaria The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 120, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.6b03061	journal	May 2016
Thermal and Chemical Expansion of Sr-Doped Lanthanum Cobalt Oxide (La ₁ _- _x Sr _x CoO ₃ _- _δ ) No authors listed Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 17, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1021/cm050905h	journal	August 2005
Materials for fuel-cell technologies Steele, Brian C. H.; Heinzel, Angelika Nature, Vol. 414, Issue 6861, p. 345-352 https://doi.org/10.1038/35104620	journal	November 2001
Effects of CuO Content on the Wetting Behavior and Mechanical Properties of a Ag-CuO Braze for Ceramic Joining Kim, Jin Yong; Hardy, John S.; Scott Weil, K. Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Vol. 88, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1551-2916.2005.00492.x	journal	September 2005
Thermo-Chemical Expansion in Strontium-Doped Lanthanum Cobalt Iron Oxide: Thermo-Chemical Expansion in LSCF Bishop, Sean R.; Duncan, Keith L.; Wachsman, Eric D. Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Vol. 93, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1551-2916.2010.03991.x	journal	September 2010
Lowering the Temperature of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Wachsman, E. D.; Lee, K. T. Science, Vol. 334, Issue 6058 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1204090	journal	November 2011
Joining Mixed Conducting Oxides Using an Air-Fired Electrically Conductive Braze Hardy, John S.; Kim, Jin Yong; Weil, K. Scott Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 151, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1149/1.1764782	journal	January 2004
Highlights from the 2013 National Science Foundation Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Promise, Progress, and Priorities (SOFC-PPP) Workshop Nicholas, J. D. Interface magazine, Vol. 22, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1149/2.F04134if	journal	January 2013
Joining of engineering ceramics Fernie, J. A.; Drew, R. A. L.; Knowles, K. M. International Materials Reviews, Vol. 54, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1179/174328009X461078	journal	September 2009
Silver-copper oxide based reactive air braze for joining yttria-stabilized zirconia Kim, J. Y.; Hardy, J. S.; Weil, K. S. Journal of Materials Research, Vol. 20, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.2005.0088	journal	March 2005

Cited By (1)

Dual Atmosphere Isothermal Aging and Rapid Thermal Cycling of Ag-Ni and Ag-CuO Stainless Steel to Zirconia Braze Joints Zhou, Quan; Bieler, Thomas R.; Nicholas, Jason D. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 166, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0911910jes	journal	January 2019