Taking advantage of Li-evaporation in LiCoO2 as cathode for proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells

Abstract

LiCoO2, a widely used electrode material for Li-ion batteries, was found to be suitable as a cathode material for proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells (H-SOFCs). Although the evaporation of Li in LiCoO2 was detrimental to the Li-ion battery performance, the Li-evaporation was found to be beneficial for the H-SOFCs. The partial evaporation of Li in the LiCoO2 material preparation procedure led to the in-situ formation of the LiCoO2+Co3O4 composite. Compared to the cell using the pure phase LiCoO2 cathode that only generated moderate fuel cell performance, the H-SOFCs using the LiCoO2+Co3O4 cathode showed a high fuel cell performance of 1160 mW·cm−2 at 700 °C, suggesting that the formation of Co3O4 was critical for enhancing the performance of the LiCoO2 cathode. The first-principles calculation gave insights into the performance improvements, indicating that the in-situ formation of Co3O4 due to the Li-evaporation in LiCoO2 could dramatically decrease the formation energy of oxygen vacancies that is essential for the high cathode performance. The evaporation of Li in LiCoO2, which is regarded as a drawback for the Li-ion batteries, is demonstrated to be advantageous for the H-SOFCs, offering new selections of cathode candidates for the H-SOFCs.

Attempted preparation of La 0.5Ba 0.5MnO 3− δ leading to an in-situ formation of manganate nanocomposites as a cathode for proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells

“…At 700 o C, the peak power density (PPD) of the cell with the La0.7Ba0.3MnO3-δ cathode was 898 mW cm -2 . The performance is comparable to that of previous LaMnO3-based H-SOFC cathodes [44] but inferior to that of recently reported high-performing H-SOFC cathodes [45][46][47][48]. At 700 o C, the performance of the cell with a BaMnO3 cathode is considerably lower, reaching only 126 mW cm -2 .…”

Boosting dielectric temperature stability in BNBST‐based energy storage ceramics by Nb2O5 modification

“…tric capacitors, 4 electrochemical capacitors, 5 batteries, 6 and solid oxide fuel cells. 7,8 Wherein dielectric capacitors prepared by ceramics, with the advantages of high power density and long anti-fatigue cycling, are meeting the key requirements for miniaturization, high capacity, high reliability, and environmental protection adapting to rapid progress of electronic information industry. [9][10][11][12][13][14] The remarkable ability of ceramic capacitors to work stably and in complex high-and low-temperature environments mainly depend on the dielectric temperature stability.…”

“…As environment becomes increasingly critical, the development of green and high quality is accelerating, which promotes the research of new energy storage technology and environment‐friendly materials, 1–3 such as dielectric capacitors, 4 electrochemical capacitors, 5 batteries, 6 and solid oxide fuel cells 7,8 . Wherein dielectric capacitors prepared by ceramics, with the advantages of high power density and long anti‐fatigue cycling, are meeting the key requirements for miniaturization, high capacity, high reliability, and environmental protection adapting to rapid progress of electronic information industry 9–14 .…”

Solid oxide electrolyzer positive electrodes with a novel microstructure show unprecedented stability at high current densities

“…1,2 Alternatively, this technology can be operated in reversible mode in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) to produce electricity with the generated fuel. [3][4][5][6][7] This is of great importance since they can be employed as an energy management strategy for the mismatch between the energy supply and demand, due to the increasing intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. However, one of the critical issues of commercialization of this technology is the durability of SOECs at high current density.…”