Tape Casting - the Green Skills for Hydrogen Lab Series

With the Green Skills for Hydrogen Lab Series, we want to make the core technologies of the green #hydrogen economy tangible: You are invited into the laboratories where electrolysis cells and fuel cells are fabricated using state-of-the-art processes, testing, and development.
In this video you see steps in the process of “tape casting”: A technique used to make layers for SOFC/SOEC (Solid Oxide Fuel Cell/Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell), such as support layers and functional layers.
After the slurry has been mixed thoroughly, the viscosity of the slurry needs to be measured since if it is too thin or too thick the tape will not spread evenly. Then, the slurry undergoes deaeration, in this case done under vacuum, which removes trapped air bubbles that could compromise the tape's integrity. The slurry is then poured onto a flat substrate, in this case a moving plastic tape, using a doctor blade to spread the slurry evenly. The gap between the blade and the substrate determines the tape's thickness.
The cast tape is dried in a controlled environment to evaporate the solvents, leaving behind a flexible, solid tape. This step is crucial to prevent cracking or warping. Then the tape is ready for the next steps: Cutting and lamination, and sintering.
Acknowledgements:Film recorded in 2024 in the lab at the Department of Energy Storage and Conversion at the Technical University of Denmark, DTU.
The video is exemplary, which means it does not cover all the steps of the process but selected, important ones. The scale of production presented mimics research needs, but the core techniques are basically the same as in industrial production.
Lab work: Federico Capotondo, Mona Yarahmadi and Albert Lopez de Moragas - DTU Energy, Denmark
Video producer: Pernille Gøtz - DTU Energy, Denmark
The production of the lab series was supported by the EU through the project “Green Skills for Hydrogen”. Please visit our homepage www.greenskills.eu to learn more.