fuelcellmaterials is pleased to announce the addition of the NextCell-HP product line to our SOFC component catalog. fuelcellmaterials and its parent company, Nexceris, develop new technologies, processing methods, and materials within its R&D center to advance the solid oxide fuel cell community. Our current NextCell product line has served the SOFC market for over ten years, and continues to be successful because of its reliability and lot-to-lot uniformity. However, fuelcellmaterials’ engineers and material scientists are always seeking ways to improve our products and innovate on existing platforms.
With this dedication to their craft the new NextCell-HP electrolyte supported cell was created. Using our proprietary spray coating manufacturing processes, developed over our years of experience in providing coating services, we have created our most advanced SOFC electrolyte supported cell. The NextCell-HP builds on the first generation NextCell the same way our HP Premium powders build on our standard powders.
Based on our coating experiences, our engineers recognized that spray manufacturing SOFC components would increase reproducibility cell-to-cell and lot-to-lot, while reducing manufacturing tooling and costs. They also observed that newer low-temperature cathodes enhanced NextCell performance at low temperatures. To align these benefits with the needs of customers, our service team helped us coordinate with key researchers in the SOFC field to create an enhanced electrolyte supported cell that provides the best value to our partners and customers.
Key Benefits to the NextCell-HP
- Enhanced power density thanks to its state-of-the-art electrode compositions
- Part-to-part variations within lots has been reduced with our new spray coating manufacturing process
- NextCell-HP allows for users to evaluate various conditions at a wider range of testing temperatures due to its LSCF cathode electrode
- More flexibility when it comes to designing custom cells
- Lower prices are achieved through FCM’s new processing methods and better yields
- Test results can be counted on with high lot to lot reproducibility
Enhanced Power Density
The original NextCell was designed for test reproducibility at high temperatures. The NextCell-HP builds on this to offer enhanced power in the ESC, particularly at lower temperatures. The formulation and process improvements on the NextCell-HP increases power density and cell potential as compared to the original NextCell at typical ESC temperatures (Figure 1).
But fuelcellmaterials’ engineers didn’t stop there; we wanted to provide an electrolyte supported cell that increased performance across a wider range of temperatures. This enables researchers to conduct more meaningful condition tests at larger temperature spans with the NextCell-HP than other ESC’s. Performance at 750°C was enhanced, while maintaining the thin electrode layers and dense sealing perimeter provided by electrolyte supported designs.
More Cost Effective Cells with Better Flexibility:
At the core of the effort to bring an improved NextCell to the SOFC community is our pride in our world-leading aerosol deposition methods. Based on our experience in taking ChromLokTM Coatings to industrial scale, we have witnessed first-hand the excellent scalability and reproducibility of this method.
The fuelcellmaterials team recognized spray deposition could be used to create electrolyte supported cells that were cost effective for researchers and scalable for manufacturers. We believe products must be scalable and cost-effective to have a positive impact on our customers and partners. The NextCell-HP process methods have increased batch yield while reducing manufacturing labor to result in a per cell price that is lower than the first generation NextCell.
Beyond improved reproducibility and scalability, spray deposition affords greater flexibility and customization of the NextCell-HP. Many of our partners like to make adjustments to the NextCell platform based on their research interests and testing parameters. The new NextCell-HP will make this process easier, more cost effective, and will offer more electrode/electrolyte options than previously available. It is important to us that we offer options to researchers and manufacturers so that you can maximize your research potential from these cells.
Product Availability and Additional Information:
The NextCell-HP will be available for shipment starting November 1st, 2017 with pre-orders starting October 5th, 2017. Please talk to one of our sales engineers today to discuss the NextCell-HP.
