Low thermal stress and excellent gas tightness in BaO‒CaO‒Al ₂ O ₃ ‒B ₂ O ₃ ‒SiO ₂ glass‐ceramic for long‐term ITSOFC application

Abstract The increased coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch and mechanical performance degradation of glass‐based sealant‐induced thermal stress are critical issues for long‐term application of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). In this work, the double effect of MgO particle on dispersion strengthening, inhibition low‐CTE phase transformation, thermal stress, and leakage rate in BaO‒CaO‒Al 2 O 3 ‒B 2 O 3 ‒SiO 2 (BCABS) glass‐ceramic were investigated and analyzed. The low‐CTE mono‐BaAl 2 Si 2 O 8 phase was suppressed by the MgO particle reacting with BCABS glass‐ceramic. Consequently, the CTE for BCABS glass‐ceramic without MgO decreases from 11.47 at 1 h to 10.18 ×10 −6 /°C at 1000 h and reduction rate is higher than 10%, bring about the thermal stress of sealant itself and interface had tripled (200 MPa) and leakage rate was high than 0.06 sccm/cm after 250 h. However, the CTE of 20 wt% MgO‐reinforced BCABS glass‐ceramic sealant only declined about 4.0% for 1000 h, resulting in slow increase or even decrease in the thermal stress (low than 60 MPa) and maintaining stable leakage rate below 0.04 sccm/cm for 1000 h with three thermal cycles. This study was useful for identifying optimal CTE matching and elastic modulus of glass‐based sealant for efficient and stable long‐term operation of SOFC.