Pulsed electrolysis of carbon dioxide by large-scale solid oxide electrolytic cells for intermittent renewable energy storage

CO_(2) electrolysis with solid oxide electrolytic cells(SOECs)using intermittently available renewable energy has potential applications for carbon neutrality and energy storage.In this study,a pulsed current strategy is used to replicate intermittent energy availability,and the stability and conversion rate of the cyclic operation by a large-scale flat-tube SOEC are studied.One hundred cycles under pulsed current ranging from -100 to -300 mA/cm^(2) with a total operating time of about 800 h were carried out.The results show that after 100 cycles,the cell voltage attenuates by 0.041%/cycle in the high current stage of−300 mA/cm^(2),indicating that the lifetime of the cell can reach up to about 500 cycles.The total CO_(2) conversion rate reached 52%,which is close to the theoretical value of 54.3% at -300 mA/cm^(2),and the calculated efficiency approached 98.2%,assuming heat recycling.This study illustrates the significant advantages of SOEC in efficient electrochemical energy conversion,carbon emission mitigation,and seasonal energy storage.

Cathodic reduction process of Al-Cu-Y alloy in fluoride-oxide eutectic system via molten salt electrolysis

Al-Cu-Y alloys were prepared by molten salt electrolysis in fluoride-oxide system composed of electrolyte（Na3 AlF6-AlF3-LiF-MgF2） and oxide（Al2 O3-CuO-Y2 O3）. Cathodic reduction process of Al2 O3,CuO and Y2 O3 were analyzed by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. Components and phase composition of alloy samples prepared by potentiostatic electrolysis were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The results show that the Al-Cu-Y alloy can be prepared in the AIF3-NaF-5 wt%LiF-5 wt%MgF2（NaF/AlF3 = 2.2, molecular ratio） eutectic system with mixed oxide（Al2 O3-CuO-Y2 O3） through 2 h at the conditions of a temperature of 1208 K, cell voltage3.0 V, cathode current density 0.7 A/cm^2. Al（Ⅲ） and Cu（Ⅱ） ions can be reduced to zero valence Al（0） and Cu（0） directly on carbonaceous electrode surface by instantaneous nucleation, respectively, the reduction process is controlled by diffusion. The reduction potential of Y（Ⅲ） ions is close to the active ions of fluoride melts, but strengthened phase AI3 Y can be formed through electrochemical reduction and alloyed process with active Al（Ⅲ） and Cu（Ⅱ） ions, meanwhile, the Al2 Cu and Al3 Y phases are distributed at the grain boundary of Al matrix.