A robust fluorine-containing ceramic cathode for direct CO_(2) electrolysis in solid oxide electrolysis cells

Stro ntium-doped lanthanum ferrite(LSF)is a potential ceramic cathode for direct CO_(2) electrolysis in solid oxide electrolysis cells(SOECs),but its application is limited by insufficient catalytic activity and stability in CO_(2)-containing atmospheres.Herein,a novel strategy is proposed to enhance the electrolytic performance as well as chemical stability,achieved by doping F into the O-site of the perovskite LSF.Doping F does not change the phase structure but reduces the cell volume and improves the chemical stability in a CO_(2)-rich atmosphere.Importantly,F doping favors oxygen vacancy formation,increases oxygen vacancy concentration,and enhances the CO_(2) adsorption capability.Meanwhile,doping with F greatly improves the kinetics of the CO_(2) reduction reaction.For example,kchem increases by 78%from3.49×10^(-4) cm s^(-1) to 6.24×10^(-4) cm s^(-1),and Dchem doubles from 4.68×10^(-5) cm^(2) s^(-1) to 9.45×10^(-5)cm^(2) s^(-1).Consequently,doping F significantly increases the electrochemical performance,such as reducing R_(p) by 52.2%from 0.226Ωcm^(2) to 0.108Ωcm^(2) at 800℃.As a result,the single cell with the Fcontaining cathode exhibits an extremely high current density of 2.58 A cm^(-2) at 800℃and 1.5 V,as well as excellent durability over 200 h for direct CO_(2) electrolysis in SOECs.

LiCoO_(2) sintering aid towards cathode-interface-enhanced garnet electrolytes

Garnet-type Li_7La_(3)Zr_(2)O_(12)(LLZO) has high ionic conductivity and good compatibility with lithium metal.High-temperature processing has been proven an effective method to decrease the interface resistance of cathodeILLZO.However,its application is still hindered by the interlayer co-diffusion with the cathode and high sintering temperature(>1200℃).In this work,a new garnet-type composite solid-state electrolyte(SSE) Li_(6.54)La_(2.96)Ba_(0.04)Zr_(1.5)Nb_(0.5)O_(12)-LiCoO_(2)(LLBZNO-LCO) is firstly proposed to improve the chemical stability and electrochemical properties of garnet with high-temperature processing.Small doses of LCO(3%) can significantly decrease the LCOISSE interface resistance from 121.2 to 10.1 Ω cm~2,while the sintering temperature of garnet-type LLBZNO decreases from 1230 to 1000℃.The all-solid-state battery based on the sintered LLBZNO-LCO SSE exhibits excellent cycling stability.Our approach achieves an enhanced LCOISSE interface and an improved sintering activity of garnet SSE,which provides a new strategy for optimizing the comprehensive performance of garnet SSE.

In^(3+)-doped Sr_(2)Fe_(1.5)Mo_(0.5)O_(6−δ)cathode with improved performance for an intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cell

Promoting the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)is critical for commercialization of intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells(IT-SOFCs),where Sr_(2)Fe_(1.5)Mo_(0.5)O_(6)−δ(SFM)is a promising cathode by working as a mixed ionic and electronic conductor.In this work,doping of In^(3+)greatly increases the oxygen vacancy concentration and the content of adsorbed oxygen species in Sr_(2)Fe_(1.5)Mo_(0.5−x)InxO_(6−δ)(SFMInx),and thus effectively promotes the ORR performance.As a typical example,SFMIn_(0.1)reduces the polarization resistance(R_(p))from 0.089 to 0.046Ω∙cm^(2)at 800°C,which is superior to those doped with other metal elements.In addition,SFMIn0.1 increases the peak power density from 0.92 to 1.47 W∙cm^(−2)at 800°C with humidified H_(2)as the fuel,indicating that In3+doping at the Mo site can effectively improve the performance of SOFC cathode material.

High-throughput 3D reconstruction of stochastic heterogeneous microstructures in energy storage materials

Stochastic heterogeneous microstructures are widely applied in structural and functional materials,playing a crucial role in determining their performance.X-ray tomography and focused ion beam serial sectioning are frequently used methods to reconstruct three-dimensional(3D)microstructures,yet are demanding techniques and are resolution-limited.Here,a highthroughput multi-stage 3D reconstruction method via distance correlation functions is developed using a single representatively large-sized 2D micrograph for stochastic microstructures,and verified by X-ray micro-tomography datasets of isotropic and anisotropic solid oxide fuel cell electrodes.This method provides an economic,easy-to-use and high-throughput approach for reconstructing stochastic heterogeneous microstructures for energy conversion and storage devices,and can readily be extended to other materials.