Fabrication and performance of La(0.8)Sr(0.2)MnO3/YSZ graded composite cathodes for SOFC

The performance of multi-layer （1 -x）La0.8Sr0.2MnO3/xYSZ graded composite cathodes was studied as electrode materials for intermediate solid oxide fuel cells （SOFC）. The thermal expansion coefficient, electrical conductivity, and electrochemical performance of multi-layer composite cathodes were investigated. The thermal expansion coefficient and electrical conductivity decreased with the increase in YSZ content. The （1 -x）Lao.sSr0.EMnO3/xYSZ composite cathode greatly increased the length of the active triple phase boundary line （TPBL） among electrode, electrolyte, and gas phase, leading to a decrease in polarization resistance and an increase in polarization current density. The polarization current density of the triple-layer graded composite cathode （0.77 A/cm2） was the highest and that of the monolayer cathode （0.13 A/cm2） was the lowest. The polarization resistance （Rp） of the triple-layer graded composite cathode was only 0.182 Ω·cm2 and that of the monolayer composite cathode was 0.323 Ω·cm2. The power density of the triple-layer graded composite cathode was the highest and that of the monolayer composite cathode was the lowest. The triple-layer graded composite cathode had superior performance.

The effect of catalyst layer design on catalyst utilization in PEMFC studied via stochastic reconstruction method

Catalyst utilization is an important determinant of proton exchange membrane fuel cell performance,and increasing the catalyst utilization is one of the most critical approaches to reducing the catalyst loading in PEMFC.4-phase stochastic reconstruction method based on the variable-resolution Quartet Structure Generation Set(QSGS)algorithm is utilized to elucidate the influence of different parameters of electrode preparation,including the porosity,the dispersion degree of carbon agglomerate,ionomer content,and carbon support size,on the catalyst utilization in the catalyst layer.It was found that there exist optimal values for the porosity,dispersion degree of carbon agglomerate,ionomer content,and carbon support sizes in CLs and any deviations from these optimal values would lead to transport issues of electron,proton and mass within CLs.Taking electron,proton and mass transport into consideration simultaneously,the optimal Pt utilization is 46.55%among 48 cases in this investigation,taken at the carbon support diameter of 40 nm,the porosity of 0.4,the agglomerate spatial density of 25μm^(−3) and I/C at 0.7.The selection of porosity,ultrasonic dispersion technique and ionomer content for conventional electrode preparation requires compromises on mass,electron and proton transport,leading to catalyst utilization in CLs hardly exceeding 50%.Therefore,the next generation of catalyst layer design and preparation technology is desired.

Functional layer engineering to improve performance of protonic ceramic fuel cells

Protonic ceramic fuel cells(PCFCs)have been attracting increasing attention because of their advances in high-efficiency power generation in an intermediate-temperature range,as compared to the high-temperature solid oxide fuel cells(SOFCs).The greatest difference between PCFCs and SOFCs is the specific requirement of protonic(H+)conductivity at the PCFC cathode,in addition to the electronic(e^(-))and oxide-ion(O^(2-))conductivity.The development of a triple H^(+)/e^(-)/O^(2-)conductor for PCFC cathode is still challenging.Thus,the most-widely used cathode material is based on the mature e^(-)/O^(2-)conductor.However,this leads to insufficient triple phase boundary(TPB),i.e.,reaction area.Herein,an efficient strategy that uses a~100 nm-thick proton conductive functional layer(La_(0.5)Sr_(0.5)CoO_(3-δ),LSC55)in-between the typical La_(0.8)Sr_(0.2)CoO_(3-δ)cathode(a mature e-/O^(2-)conductor,LS C 82)and B aZr_(0.4)Ce_(0.4)Y_(0.1)Yb_(0.)1O_(3-δ)elec trolyte(11 mm in diameter,20μm in thickness)is proposed to significantly enhance the reaction area.Reasonably,the ohmic resistance and polarization resistance are both decreased by 47%and 62%,respectively,compared with that of PCFCs without the functional layer.The power density of the PCFC with such a functional layer can be raised by up to 2.24 times,superior to those described in previous reports.The enhanced PCFC performances are attributed to the well-built TPB and enhanced reaction area via the functional layer engineering strategy.

Fabrication and optimization of La_(0.4)Sr_(0.6)Co_(0.2)Fe_(0.7)Nb_(0.1)O_(3-δ) electrode for symmetric solid oxide fuel cell with zirconia based electrolyte

La（0.4）Sr（0.6）Co（0.2）Fe（0.7）Nb（0.1）O（3-δ）（LSCFN）was applied as both anode and cathode for symmetrical solid oxide fuel cells（SSOFCs）with zirconia based electrolyte.The cell with LSCFN electrode was fabricated by tape-casting and screen printing.Fabrication process was optimized firstly by comparing co-sintering and separate-sintering of electrode and electrolyte.To further improve the LSCFN electrode properties,oxygen ionic conductor of Gd（0.1）Ce（0.9）O（2-δ）（GDC）was added into the LSCFN electrode.The preferred composition of LSCFN-GDC composite electrode was found to be 1：1 in weight ratio with polarization resistance of 0.16Ωcm^2at 800~℃.The maximum power densities of LSCFN-GDC｜｜GDC/YSZ/GDC｜｜LSCFN-GDC tested in H2and CH4with 3%H2O were 395 m W cm^（-2）and 124 m W cm^（-2）at 850~？C,respectively,which were much higher than that of LSCFN｜｜GDC/YSZ/GDC｜｜LSCFN cells at same condition,possibly due to the extension of the triple phase boundary induced by the addition of GDC.The cell showed reasonable stability using H2and CH4with 3%H2O as fuels and no significant power output degradation was observed after total 200 h operation.