No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite (LSCF) nanofibers have been fabricated by the electrospinning method and used as the cathode of an intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) with yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte. The three-dimensional nanofiber network cathode has several advantages: (i) high porosity; (ii) high percolation; (iii) continuous pathway for charge transport; (iv) good thermal stability at the operating temperature; and (v) excellent scaffold for infiltration. The fuel cell with the monolithic LSCF nanofiber cathode exhibits a power density of 0.90 W cm À2 at 1.9 A cm À2 at 750 C. The electrochemical performance of the fuel cell has been further improved by infiltration of 20 wt% of gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC) into the LSCF nanofiber cathode. The fuel cell with the LSCF-20% GDC composite cathode shows a power density of 1.07 W cm À2 at 1.9 A cm À2 at 750 C. The results obtained show that one-dimensional nanostructures such as nanofibers hold great promise as electrode materials for intermediate-temperature SOFCs.

The EU Integrated Project Real‐SOFC aims at improving the understanding of degradation in SOFC stacks, and extending the durability of planar SOFC stacks to degradation rates suitable for stationary application. As part of the Real‐SOFC project, three series of SOFC stacks, each with two or four planar anode‐supported cells, were operated for durations of 3,000 h up to 10,000 h under varying fuel and electrical load conditions. The durability tests on these short stacks were conducted galvanostatically at 800 and 700 °C in dependence of current‐density (0.3, 0.5 or 0.7 A cm–2), of fuel composition (hydrogen: H2 + 3–10% H2O or methane: CH4/H2O (S/C = 2)) and of fuel utilisation (8, 40, 60 or 75%). A pronounced difference in degradation behaviour was observed between the stacks operated at different current densities. The degradation behaviour was, however, not influenced by the choice of fuel (hydrogen or methane) and was hardly influenced by the fuel utilisation. Lowest degradation rates of about 20 mΩ cm2 kh–1 were determined for the tests of a short stack with cells with LSM cathodes operated at 800 °C and a current‐density of 0.3 A cm–2 and of a short stack with cells with LSCF cathodes operated at 700 °C and a current‐density of 0.5 A cm–2. Post‐test characterisation of the cathode with respect to chromium poisoning was performed on cells from several stacks. No clear relationship between the degradation rate of the stacks and amount of Cr incorporated in the cathode could be established. The major difference was a change in microstructure of the cathode in the region near the electrolyte interface; in the stacks operated at lower current densities, the structurally changed zone was clearly thinner than in those stacks operated at higher currents.

No abstract

A long-term test with a two-layer solid oxide cell stack was carried out for more than 20,000 hours. The stack was mainly characterized in a furnace environment in electrolysis mode, with 50% humidification of H 2 at 800 • C. The endothermic operation was carried out with a current density of −0.5 Acm −2 and steam conversion rate of 50%. Electrolysis at lower temperatures (i.e., 700 • C and 750 • C) and fuel cell operation (with 0.5 Acm −2 and fuel utilization of 50%) at 800 • C were also carried out (<2000 h each) for comparison. The voltage and area specific resistance degradation rates were ∼0.6%/kh and 8.2%/kh after ∼18,460 hours of operation. In total, the stack was operated above 700 • C for more than 20,000 hours. Impedance measurement and analysis showed that the increase of ohmic resistance was the main degradation phenomenon, while electrode polarizations were kept nearly constant before a severe burning took place in one layer. Ni-depletion in fuel electrodes was confirmed during post-mortem analysis, which was assumed to be the major degradation mechanism observed. The stack performance and degradation analysis under different working conditions, as well as the results of preliminary post-mortem analysis will be presented. One of the critical challenges to the application and commercialization of solid oxide cell (SOC) technology is the long-term stability of complete systems, stacks and single components. Despite the fact that accelerating methods have long been under discussion, the time-consuming and costly endurance tests of stacks and cells under relevant conditions are still necessary for reliable degradation analyses and lifetime prediction. Compared to the tests with single cell or other stack and system component, the results of long-term degradation tests with stacks are quite limited. [1][2][3][4][5] Previous results have shown stable performance of stacks working in the temperature range of 700-800• C in SOFC mode. [6][7][8][9] Recently, a short stack achieved a 10 years lifetime, and remains in operation. 10 With proper protective coating, a voltage degradation rate of less than 0.3%/kh and lifetime of more than 40,000 h at 700• C is possible with current stack design and components. In contrast to the low degradation rate in SOFC mode, higher degradation rates of ∼0.6-1.5%/kh were observed with similar types of cells in the same stack design in SOEC mode, as described by Nguyen et al. 11 Therefore, the functionality and optimization potential of the cells and stacks, as well as their long-term degradation behavior and mechanisms in SOEC mode, needs to be further investigated. Amongst the stacks operated in SOEC mode, a two-layer stack was operated under different stationary conditions for more than 20,000 h. The stack performance was regularly monitored by open circuit voltage, voltage-current curves and impedance measurements. After cooling down, one third of the stack was embedded in resin for cross-section preparation, and the rest was disassembled for visual inspection. The prelim...

A Solid Oxide Electrolysis (SOE) short stack consisting of anode-supported cells (ASCs in fuel cell mode) was assembled in J ÜLICH's F10-design. ASCs are based on Ni/8YSZ (8 mol-% yttria-stabilized zirconia) with an LSCF air electrode (La 0.58 Sr 0.4 Co 0.2 Fe 0.8 O 3-δ ) and 8YSZ electrolyte. A gadolinium-doped ceria (GDC) (Ce 0.8 Gd 0.2 O 1.9 ) barrier layer was deposited between 8YSZ and LSCF by means of physical vapor deposition (PVD). The stack was mainly characterized in a furnace environment in both fuel cell and electrolysis modes, with 50% humidified H 2 at 700 and 800 • C. An endothermic long-term electrolysis operation was carried out at 800 • C with a current density of −0.5 Acm −2 and steam conversion rate of 50%. After 2300 h of operation, the stack showed an average voltage degradation rate of 0.7%/kh. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and analysis of the distribution function of relaxation times (DRT) showed that the degradation was primarily due to the increase in ohmic resistance.