Preparation of Nickel Pattern Electrodes on YSZ and Their Electrochemical Properties in H 2 ‐ H 2 O Atmospheres

To study the reaction kinetics at the anode of solid-oxide fuel cells, a nickel stripe pattern was prepared on the surface of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) [8 mole percent (m/o) Y 2 O 3 -doped ZrO 2 ] by an ionized cluster beam (ICB) method and photolithography. Due to grain growth of nickel film at high temperatures, the minimum possible width of the stripes was found to be ca. 5 μm. By impedance measurements in H 2 -H 2 O atmospheres at 100 to 850 o C, it was shown that the reaction proceeds through the triple-phase boundary (TPB) of H 2 -H 1 O/Ni/YSZ and the mechanism of the rate-determining reaction is different from that at the TPB of H 2 -H 2 O/Pt/YSZ