Management of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) thermal gradients is vital to limit thermal expansion mismatch and thermal stress. However, owing to harsh operation conditions of SOFCs and limited available space in stack configuration, the number of techniques available to obtain temperature distribution from the cell surface is limited. The authors previously developed and studied a thermocouple array pattern to detect surface temperature distribution on an SOFC in open circuit conditions. In this study, the performance in terms of mechanical durability and oxidation state of the thin film thermoelements of the thermocouple array on the porous SOFC cathode is investigated. A thin-film multi-junction thermocouple array was sputter deposited using a magnetron sputter coater. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterisation techniques were carried out to understand characteristics of the thin film before and after temperature (20 °C–800 °C) measurement. Temperature readings from the sensor agreed well with the closely placed commercial thermocouple during heating segments. However, a sensor failure occurred at around 350 °C during the cooling segment. The SEM and XPS tests revealed cracks on the thin film thermoelements and oxidation to the film thickness direction.

Thermal management of SOFCs (solid oxide fuel cell) is important for helping to minimise high temperature-related performance losses and maximising cell/stack lifetime. Thin film sensor technology is proposed as an excellent candidate to measure the cell temperature during operation due to its negligible mass, minimal disturbance to normal operation and higher temporal and spatial resolutions. However, the effective application of such sensors in SOFC systems is a challenging endeavour and predicated on incorporating the external wire attachments to complete the electrical circuit. This is because of the high sensitivity of SOFC materials to any interference to operation, limited available space and harsh operating conditions. In this paper, a new concept of packaging external wire attachments to the thin film sensor is described to enable the integration of the sensor in the SOFC system. Temperature measurements have been monitored under OCV and operating condition with the thin film sensor directly from SOFC cathode surface via proposed spring-based wire connection, from room temperature to SOFC operating temperature. The impact of the parameters including contact resistance (Rc) between sensor pads and attached wire on monitored temperature has also been analysed with the contribution of conductive paste. High temporal and spatial resolutions have been obtained with the implemented sensor.

We present single‐step‐co‐sintering manufacture of a planar single‐chamber solid oxide fuel cell ( SC ‐ SOFC ) with porous multilayer structures consisting of NiO/ CGO , CGO and CGO ‐ LSCF as anode, electrolyte, and cathode, respectively. Their green tapes were casted with 20 μm thickness and stacked into layers of anode, electrolyte, and cathode (10:2:2), then hot‐pressed at 2 MP a and 60°C for 5 minutes (deemed optimal). Subsequently, hot laminated layers were cut into 40 × 40 mm cells and co‐sintered up to 1200°C via different sintering profiles. Shrinkage behavior and curvature developments of cells were characterized, determining the best sintering profile. Hence, anode‐supported SC ‐ SOFC s were fabricated via a single‐step co‐sintering process, albeit with curvature formation at edges. Subsequently, anode thickness was increased to 800 μm and electrolyte reduced to 20 μm to obtain SOFC s with drastically reduced curvature with the help of a porous alumina cover plate.