SUMMARY

Electrodes in a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) must possess both adequate porosity as well as electronic conductivity to perform their functions in the cell. They must be porous to permit rapid mass transport of reactant and product gases and sufficiently conductive to permit efficient electron transfer. However, it is nearly impossible to simultaneously control porosity and conductivity using conventional fabrication techniques. In this dissertation, computational design and performance optimization of microarchitectured SOFCs is first investigated in order to achieve higher power density and thus higher efficiency than currently attainable in state-of-the-art SOFCs. This involves coupled multiphysics simulation of mass transport, electrochemical charge transfer reaction, and current balance as a function of SOFC microarchitecture. Thermo-mechanical stability of the SOFCs as a function of microarchitecture is investigated as well. Next, the fabrication of SOFCs while controlling the distribution of SOFC materials consistent with the computational designs is addressed through selective deposition techniques. Finally, the performance of a fabricated SOFC unit cell is characterized and compared against performance predicted by the computational model.