Fig. 2: Effect of pore-forming materials on built-up pressure during the debinding step.
From: Production of a monolithic fuel cell stack with high power density
The graphs display the predictions of a multiphysics model on the pressure built-up inside the SRU monoliths (black lines/symbols) during the debinding step (red lines). Below the graphs, the photographs show the integrity of the corresponding SRU monoliths after heat treatment (debinding and sintering steps). a, Case of a SRU monolith manufactured using only graphite as sacrificial material to form the gas channels, b, Case of a SRU monolith manufactured using a 50–50 vol.% mixture of graphite–PMMA as sacrificial material to form the gas channels, and c, Case of a SRU monolith manufactured using only PMMA as sacrificial material to form the gas channels. The SRU presented in Fig. 2c reveals large cracks after debinding/sintering steps which is in good accordance with the model which predicted that SRU monolith manufactured using 100% PMMA would lead to the highest pressure (14 mbar around 200 °C) among the three pore-forming agents investigated, and therefore will be the most likely to fracture. Note that both PMMA and graphite are also contained the electrode tapes which explains why a pressure peak corresponding to graphite removal can also be found in the case of Fig. 2c, for example.
