A High‐Performing Direct Carbon Fuel Cell with a 3D Architectured Anode Operated Below 600 °C

Abstract

Direct carbon fuel cells (DCFCs) are highly efficient power generators fueled by abundant and cheap solid carbons. However, the limited triple-phase boundaries (TPBs) in the fuel electrode, due to the lack of direct contact among carbon, electrode, and electrolyte, inhibit the performance and result in poor fuel utilization. To address the challenges of low carbon oxidation activity and low carbon utilization, a highly efficient, 3D solid-state architected anode is developed to enhance the performance of DCFCs below 600 °C. The cell with the 3D textile anode framework, Gd:CeO -Li/Na CO composite electrolyte, and Sm Sr CoO cathode demonstrates excellent performance with maximum power densities of 143, 196, and 325 mW cm at 500, 550, and 600 °C, respectively. At 500 °C, the cells can be operated steadily with a rated power density of ≈0.13 W cm at a constant current density of 0.15 A cm with a carbon utilization over 85.5%. These results, for the first time, demonstrate the feasibility of directly electrochemical oxidation of solid carbon at 500-600 °C, representing a promising strategy in developing high-performing fuel cells and other electrochemical systems via the integration of 3D architected electrodes.

3D Self‐Architectured Steam Electrode Enabled Efficient and Durable Hydrogen Production in a Proton‐Conducting Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell at Temperatures Lower Than 600 °C

“…Fabrication of SAUP 3D PBSCF Textile Steam Electrode : The ceramic framework was fabricated through a template‐derived and self‐architectured procedure, which was first reported in a previous work . PBSCF precursor solution was prepared by dissolving a stoichiometric amount of Co(NO 3 ) 2 ·6H 2 O (Sigma Aldrich), Pr(NO 3 ) 3 ·6H 2 O (Sigma Aldrich), Fe(NO 3 ) 3 ·9H 2 O (Sigma Aldrich), Ba(NO 3 ) 2 (Sigma Aldrich), and Sr(NO 3 ) 2 ·6H 2 O (Sigma Aldrich) in distilled water.…”

Prussian Blue Analogues in Aqueous Batteries and Desalination Batteries

“…However, these clean energy sources generally have the disadvantages of location dependence [6][7][8][9][10], high cost and low efficiency, which restrict their large-scale applications [11][12][13][14][15][16]. In this case, a lot of attentions have been paid to the developments of rechargeable batteries [17][18][19][20][21][22], fuel cells [23][24][25][26][27][28][29] and supercapacitors [30][31][32][33][34][35], among which the rechargeable batteries have received the most attention. For rechargeable batteries, most of them are powered by organic electrolytes due to high voltage, high energy density and wide electrochemical window of organic electrolyte systems [36][37][38][39][40][41].…”

A Comparative Study on the Performance of Direct Carbon Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Powered with Different Rank Coals

“…This is primarily because the electrode reaction equilibrium time exceeds the response time in the low frequency region; therefore, the capacitance effect of the electrode cannot be eliminated . The polarization resistance ( R P ) is obtained by subtracting the ohmic resistance from the total resistance . Some differences are observed in the ohmic resistance of cells powered with different fuels.…”