Spray coating technique was developed to fabricate dense yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte films onto NiO-YSZ porous anode substrates. A single fuel cell of Ni-YSZ/YSZ (14.9 mu m)/LSM-YSZ was successfully prepared by spray coating technique. The cell was tested using humidified hydrogen as fuel and ambient air as oxidant. The cell provided the maximum power densities of 234, 721 and 990 mW/cm(2) at 700, 750 and 800 degrees C, respectively. The impedance spectra showed that the performance of the cell was controlled by the electrode polarization rather than the resistance of YSZ electrolyte film. SEM results revealed that the YSZ film was crack-free, continuous and quite dense. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.