Fracture toughness of glass sealants for solid oxide fuel cell application

Glass and glass-ceramics are versatile materials and have been widely used for sealing in the ongoing development of intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology where its integrity is crucial for reliable operation of the stack. The fracture toughness is a key parameter required for the prediction of the mechanical performance of a seal glass. A comparative indentation study on two RE-glasses (RE=La and Y) was performed to evaluate their fracture toughness. Indentation toughness was calculated both through measurements of the indentation crack lengths and of crack-opening displacements in the near regions of a crack tip. Both approaches exhibited good agreement. La-containing glass showed higher stiffness, hardness and fracture toughness, which has been related to the in-situ toughening mechanism caused by devitrification and formation of crystalline phases. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.