Effect of open pore and pore interconnectivity in the Ni-SDC cermet anode microstructure on the performance of solid oxide fuel cells

In nickel-samarium-doped ceria (Ni-SDC) cermet anode layers, the open pores and interconnected pores in the microstructure are the main factors that affect the mechanical and electrical properties. In this work, porous Ni-SDC cermet anode layers are fabricated using various quantities of potato starch (0 to 25 wt.%) as a pore forming in the anode powders. The properties of the Ni-SDC cermet anode layers were characterised by FESEM-BSE microscopy, Archimedes method for density measurement, Vickers hardness, flexural strength, and DC four-point electrical conductivity. The findings revealed that the different content of potato starch greatly affected the percentage of porosity and pore interconnectivity in the microstructure and consequently altered the mechanical and electrical properties of the Ni-SDC cermet anode. The degree of shrinkage, relative density, mechanical strength and electrical conductivity of the Ni-SDC cermet anodes decreased as their pore former content increased. Furthermore, the research shows that the large porosity (> 40%) in the Ni-SDC cermet anode microstructure affected the continuity of Ni-Ni, SDC and Ni-SDC phases and thereby affected the mechanical and electrical properties. The Ni-SDC cermet anode with 10 wt.% exhibited sufficient porosity, Vickers hardness, flexural strength and electrical conductivity of 34%, 48 MPa, 72 MPa and 2028 S/cm (at 800 °C), respectively. Therefore, optimisation of porosity in the Ni-SDC cermet anode microstructure strongly contributes to the well-connected pore channels for the rapid diffusion of hydrogen for oxidation and mechanical strength.

Effects of multiscale porosity and pore interconnectivity on in vitro and in vivo degradation and biocompatibility of Fe-Mn-Cu scaffold

Iron (Fe) based scaffolds are promising candidates as degradable metallic scaffolds. High strength and ability to control the degradation with tailormade composition and porosity are specific advantages of these scaffolds....

Microfluidic Technology for the Production of Well-Ordered Porous Polymer Scaffolds

Advances in tissue engineering (TE) have revealed that porosity architectures, such as pore shape, pore size and pore interconnectivity are the key morphological properties of scaffolds. Well-ordered porous polymer scaffolds, which have uniform pore size, regular geometric shape, high porosity and good pore interconnectivity, facilitate the loading and distribution of active biomolecules, as well as cell adhesion, proliferation and migration. However, these are difficult to prepare by traditional methods and the existing well-ordered porous scaffold preparation methods require expensive experimental equipment or cumbersome preparation steps. Generally, droplet-based microfluidics, which generates and manipulates discrete droplets through immiscible multiphase flows inside microchannels, has emerged as a versatile tool for generation of well-ordered porous materials. This short review details this novel method and the latest developments in well-ordered porous scaffold preparation via microfluidic technology. The pore structure and properties of microfluidic scaffolds are discussed in depth, laying the foundation for further research and application in TE. Furthermore, we outline the bottlenecks and future developments in this particular field, and a brief outlook on the future development of microfluidic technique for scaffold fabrication is presented.