Ink-jet printing of Cu-Co-Mn Oxide spinel as protective coating on solid oxide fuel cell interconnects

In the present study, ink-jet printing was used to deposit layers of Cu-Co-Mn-oxide. The advantage of the technique lies in the flexibility of the coating design, low fabrication cost and the very low amount of wasted material.

Cu-doped MnCo2O4 spinel nanoparticles were produced in house via the Pechini method. The material was characterized with X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Particle Size Analysis (PSA) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). The present study focuses on the preparation of a stable, well-dispersed and agglomeratefree particle dispersions that will be subsequently tuned as ink. Ink composition and printing parameters were optimized to obtain high-resolution printing. To assess these properties, stability, viscosity and the surface tension were measured for the ink and droplet interpolation, jetting frequency for the printing process. The printable ink was deposited on an interconnect steel substrate and then cured at 600°C.